Rise II: Devil in Me
by Kuraki-chan
Summary: Companion to Monster; mentions of Vampire Diaries and some crossovers. Zarya's life was perfectly normal until her best friend Nick vanished and she became unnaturally sick with no explanation. Diagnosis? She's bound to Lucifer. With Lucifer back in the Cage she's on the hunt for her real family - the Vasiles. But after all she's been through and still uncovering she's losing it.
1. Now I Gotta Wake It Up

**A/N:** Alright all, I'm on a regular scheduled update now! For those who still won't find my facebook page (literally just Kuraki-chan LOL), this week begins my weekly updates! Every Tuesday I will be posting this one, and every Thursday _Monster_.  
This story is _Monster_ 's companion, but the way I've done it get's kind of tricky. Technically _Monster_ 's companion is called _Rise_ and this is the second half of _Rise_. Which is why I've decided to call it _Rise II: Devil in Me_. Kind of like _Monster_ 's second half, _Like You_ , which I'm still currently on. So this is a prequel of sorts. It just lines up better with _Monster_ and what's before is just season 5 of Supernatural. It's gonna seem choppy at first in my opinion, and I apologize, but in the next few weeks it'll be right alongside _Monster_ and make more sense.

Stay tuned Thursday for chapter 36 of _Monster_!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

01: Now I Gotta Wake It Up.

" _Zarya, run!" Sam screamed as loud as he possibly could._

 _She was panting, anxiety freezing over her body. Everything around her was spinning, her mind not sure was real or not anymore. She snatched up Bobby's gun and cocked it, tears brimming in her seemingly greener eyes. "No, no more running."_

" _You've got nothing left in this filthy world except for me, Rya," Lucifer told her calmly, taking a step forward._

" _I suppose it wouldn't matter if I died then." She surprised them all by pressing the barrel of the gun to her temple._

" _You just said no more running!" Dean argued, trying to scramble up and towards her._

" _I can't run anymore or deal with this bullshit if I'm dead, right? Nick is dead. I'm a missing person. The coworker who called in my being missing is missing. This isn't right."_

 _Lucifer shrugged nonchalantly. "Go ahead, Rya, see if it helps you feel any better. See if your five minutes on the Other Side is worth it before I bring you back again and as many times as I see fit." His lips curled into a devilish smirk._

 _Something echoed through her mind, a memory of sorts that she didn't even remember making. Slowly the gun was lowered away from her head, hands shaking and tears streaking her pale face. The wind started to pick up, blowing her indigo tinted raven waves around. "It was you…" There was a crash, a flash of lights, a child screaming. "The car accident...there was a car accident…" She clutched her head in pain and let out a cry._

" _Zarya!" The brothers called out to her. They ran at her but with a flick of his wrist Lucifer kept them at bay._

" _I was wondering how long it'd take." The archangel took another step closer. "They must have used a pretty strong vampire to compel the memories away. I told you, Rya, you were adopted by the Deightons. I know where to look, I can find who you really are."_

 _The scene changed before her eyes; she was in a car, strapped to a booster seat. Lights passed by her eyes through the windshield. A phone was handed to her from a pale, slender hand with long, silver nails. She could hear Nick's voice as a child through the phone. They would be home soon, she was spending the night with the Rowells. Zarya's head was throbbing; she nearly fell to her knees, gun still in her hand._

 _Someone was in the road. She saw it. She wasn't crazy. She screamed, the phone falling out of her small hands as the car squealed, turning too fast and going over the bridge they were on. She could still hear Nick screaming for her through the phone. The woman who handed her the phone from the passenger's seat tried to reach back and undo Zarya's seatbelt as fast as she could but they hit the water first. Zarya could finally make out her bright emerald eyes and dark hair swimming around her._

" _We were all DOA," she panted, using a tall headstone for support. "They were about to tag my toe and ship me to the morgue."_

 _The look of security and pride on Lucifer's face put off the brothers. "But you came to so they sent you to the hospital to be evaluated. No injuries or damage to internal organs, but they said you were in shock." He shrugged._

" _There was an angel," her childhood voice echoed with her own. "A blue eyed angel…"_

" _Zarya, focus!" Sam yelled to her._

" _He's just screwing with your head!" Dean added. "We'll figure it out!"_

 _The archangel's hand rolled out to her temptingly. "I knew from the second you were born who you were and the greatness you were meant for, even from the Cage. I've waited long enough for you, Rya. I'll burn humanity in your name."_

 _Tears dripped off of her chin and onto the grass that started to slowly frost over. Her breathing was shallow and ragged, eyes going vacant. She took a few steps toward his open hand as though she was being pulled toward it. Her free hand started to reach up towards his when the Winchesters broke free and grabbed her. Dean slapped the gun out of her hand and held her tightly to him. The vacancy vanished from her eyes and she cursed loudly, knowing it was Lucifer scratching around in her noggin._

" _Stay out of my head!" She yelled at him. Dean was surprised that she wasn't fighting against him._

 _Lucifer chuckled. "There wouldn't be anything for me to poke around at if you hadn't let me in, Rya."_

 _With Sam blocking Lucifer's view of them and Dean wrapped so tightly around her, Zarya reached into her shirt (Dean respectfully doing his best to look away) and took something out, slipping it into the elder brother's hands as Michael reappeared, blazing with wrath. With tears dripping down her face she nodded up at the olive eyed brother before stepping out of his arms. Being free enough before either brother could grab her again, Lucifer flicked his wrist and yanked her to him._

" _You've got fingers as sticky as the rest of your ancestors," Lucifer smirked down at her._

" _So you do know who I really am." She looked up defiantly at him._

 _As Michael reared closer he grabbed her by the chin and kissed her roughly, making both of their lips bleed. She could hear the brothers screaming bloody murder for her, but she didn't want to let go. She felt cold all over, but in an intoxicating way. Her eyes started to flutter shut when the ground opened wide, Dean yelling the Enochian chant to open the pit._

" _It's not going to end this way!" Michael shouted. "Step back!"_

" _When you finally give up," Lucifer told her quickly and quietly so no one else could hear with a bloody smirk, "and you know I'm all you've got left, you'll be able to reach me and I will come for you. I will always come when you call because in the end, the only person you can count on, is me."_

 _She desperately wanted to ask what the hell he was talking about, but he gave her a safe shove. She flew back a few feet away from the gaping hole growing in the ground and into Sam's arms safely. Her eyes locked with the blue eyed archangel as he gave her one last smirk before grabbing his brother's collar and pulling him closer to the opening of the pit. Lucifer winked and blew Zarya a kiss before letting the force of the pit drag him and Michael down into the darkness. The hole sucked itself closed, leaving only the horsemen's rings on the grass. Zarya slid out of Sam's arms and onto the ground. A tear slipped from her eye, a drop of blood dripping down her chin and crashing to the ground. As reality crashed down around her she started to sob._

* * *

Zarya awoke in a heavy cold sweat with tears running down her face. It had been the same ongoing routine for nearly three years. There was no sleep anymore without dreaming of Nick or Lucifer. Instead of jumping motel to motel anymore she remained holed up at the Men of Letters bunker with the Winchesters. She had taken to hunting with them, using it as an outlet for her rage.

She was beyond angry. She'd lost everything she'd ever come to know one at a time. She wasn't even a Deighton. She didn't know who she was anymore. Was her name even Zarya? (It had to be, it was so unusual, right?) When she wasn't hunting down monsters she was hunting down the truth. It was true, the Deightons had adopted her. Everything was forged and under the radar. The Deightons and Rowells were part of some protective organization of a third family. She belonged to the third family she could find nothing of. Why? What was so awful or special about the family that required such secrecy and protection?

Abaddon knew who she was. Lucifer had told her. Did the red haired Knight of Hell still have contact with Lucifer? Would it be wise for her to go asking them for answers? Each day her head spun around more and more.

Zarya let out a frustrated cry, wanting to fling her laptop across the room. The brothers had vanished off to check on Kevin and the third trial, leaving her to her research that they hadn't realized had gotten so out of hand. She didn't know who she could trust anymore. Angels were dicks, demons wouldn't give straight answers, the brothers just told her they'd figure it out. She was at the end of her rope. She needed to know who her birth parents were. Finally, something chimed on her laptop.

Nikolas Maxwell. January 6, 1973 - May 19, 1999. Car crash a few towns outside of Pike Creek. Born and raised in Mystic Falls, Virginia.

"Mystic Falls," she muttered, staring at the black and white on the screen. She clicked a link and a picture came up. Her breath caught in her throat; there was no way Nikolas Maxwell was not her father. He had eyes as blue as the woman in her memories had emerald. No wonder her eyes were such a mix.

A soft knock came on her door, the door opening slowly after. "Zarya? You're awake?" Sam spoke gently.

"I think I found my birth father," she replied bluntly, still furiously typing and clicking.

Sam and Dean exchanged wary looks. They could see dark circles beneath her lifeless but determined bloodshot eyes. Her hair was in a high, messy bun as she was too focused or scatterbrained to manage it. She'd been in the same clothes for almost three days, only changing when she'd go out and hunt because she'd return head to toe in blood. Sam was brave enough to step closer first. "Zarya, why don't you take a break? You've barely slept and just stared at that screen. Why don't we all go get something to eat? There's a nice diner about twenty minutes from here."

Dean grinned and slapped his arm happily. "Fuck yeah, they've got great bacon burgers."

Zarya pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm onto something, I can't just stop now."

"Zar, relax," Dean held his hands up as he sat on the edge of the bed beside her. "You haven't really been yourself since Lucifer got put back in the Cage, are you sure you're alright?"

"Cas had said you might feel a little off without Lucifer's presence on Earth," Sam added. "We're just trying to make sure you don't get sick or anything again."

It started off as a scoff that turned into a dark chuckle. The chuckle turned into full blown maniacal laughter. Dean got off her bed very quickly. She slammed her laptop shut and stood, something malevolent in her green blue eyes. "You don't even know what I was like before Lucifer showed up, before Nick died. You've seen my life as it's been falsely recorded through time. Nick helped me pick up my calculus grade in senior year just so I could be valedictorian. It could have been him but he purposely got lower grades than usual so I'd be ahead of him.

"I can't cook to save my life. Nick and Sarah got so tired of me ordering out or eating TV dinners that Sarah would bring me lunch at work and Nick would make sure after I changed out of my work clothes that we were going right the fuck next door for a home cooked meal. Did you know I used to draw? Graphite and pastels. Every year for my birthday I could count on a new sketchbook and pencils from Nick since I was thirteen. I'd only ever been in one half ass fight - I broke a bitch's nose for ripping off my towel in the locker room and body shaming me. I learned to fight and shoot, yes, because we were always in shitty parts of towns, but I never needed to use what I learned.  
"We were normal. I was normal. Not bent up over a laptop for weeks on end searching for truth to lies I've been fed my whole life. Not swinging a machete and taking off a monster's head. Not knowing the feeling of warm blood dripping down my cold skin. Not knowing if I'm losing my mind because Lucifer exists and he was released from Hell then put back in Hell and I'm bound to him, or if it's because of being bent over a laptop unraveling more lies! So no, it's not just Lucifer! I don't know who the fuck I am; there's nothing left for me anymore!"

Sam's heart was aching and breaking slowly for the ravenette as she stormed around her room. Dean stepped forward and reached out to her. "Zar, calm down. I need you to calm down."

"I can't!" She screamed back, half dressed with a shirt in her hands. She furiously threw the shirt over her head. She hurriedly dressed and threw her laptop in her bag. "I need to go out for a while. Don't look for me unless I'm not back in two hours."

* * *

Zarya tossed her backpack on the ground, a headstone preventing it from sliding too far. She hated being in Kansas. She knew it wasn't Stull Cemetery, three hours away, but still the place brought her a morbid sense of peace. Part of her each time she would visit a cemetery (especially being the same one in Lebanon she'd been frequenting) would be hoping to see the ground just erupt again. She would wonder if she could find the horsemen's rings and open the Cage, if it would work just as easily as closing. She knew deep down it was probably for the best, Lucifer being back in the Cage, but she couldn't help but feel that painful pull down.

She leaned against a headstone, staring up at the night sky and clawing the cool ground. Her head started to throb, the half moon staring down at her tauntingly. "Can you even hear me?" She called to no one. "If Dean even considers Castiel's name hot wings comes flapping. Have you been listening to me all these months or have you tuned me out by now?"

She curled in a ball, the pain growing too strong. Tears started to run down her face. She let out a cry of pain and fell onto the cool, dewy grass, curled in a ball. She sniffled and fell onto her back, her dark hair sprayed out beneath her. The tears ran down the sides of her face as she stared up at the stars. "I can't take it anymore," she sobbed. "Living like this in unbearable. I can't take it anymore, you win." She shook her head and let out another pained sob.

Only the wind gusted around her. The air itself and everything around was deadly silent. She was all alone in the dark, empty cemetery. Her cries falling on deaf ears. She sat up on her knees with a spark of rage, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "You hear me, you bastard?! You win! I give up! I do need you, Lucifer!" In a fit of rage she slammed her hands down on the ground, immediately reeling back when something sliced open the palm of her right hand.

She let out a small gasp and checked out the wound as it dripped onto the grass. One drop made a strange noise as it crashed down and Zarya found it had dripped onto an angel blade. An angel blade with Lucifer's sigil engraved on the hilt. Blood from the blade making the cut was left behind on the metal. The wind grew colder and stronger, blowing her hair around her face. Zarya held her bleeding hand delicately and looked up at the dark sky. Leaves started to crunch and she jumped to her feet, grabbing the angel blade with her blood dripping hand.

"Took you long enough, Rya."

Zarya's eyes opened wide, salty tears still cascading freely. She spun around, blade in hand, and pointed the sharp tip at the chest of who was behind her. She nearly choked. Lucifer slapped the blade out of her hand and gently grabbed her wrist, looking at the cut. He placed his other palm against hers, a soft golden light glowing, and the cut vanished.

He tilted his head to the side, looking at her curiously. "Relax, Rya, attempting to harm me will do you more harm than good. You're the only one who will be able to see me. I was just wondering how long it would take you."

"What the fuck is happening right now," she breathed, her knees starting to buckle.

He smirked and gently wiped a fresh tear away from her eye. "There is a part of you that I'm forever attached and bound to just the way you are to me. It creates a bridge, a marvelous little loophole." He cupped her cheek gently. "I will never leave you, Rya."

* * *

The door to the bunker shut and the brothers went running. Zarya bounded down the steps with a newfound pep. "You're too cheery," Dean commented. "Who'd you kill?"

She chuckled a little, tossing her bag on the table. "No one. I just needed to blow off some steam is all. Sorry for my little tantrum, I'm just getting really overwhelmed, you know?"

Dean was more skeptical than his younger brother. "You're sure? 'Cause we saw Cas earlier and he said something about your life force darkening with Lucifer in the Cage."

"Yeah," Sam joined in, "you had been too exposed to his Grace being bound to one another so when it was taken away it's like withdrawals. Like those tantrums."

Unbenounced to the Winchesters, Lucifer stood right beside Zarya chuckling. He saw the ravenette glance unnoticed over at him when he moved to the opposite end of the table across from her. "Oh it's true," he explained. "Like I said - you need me as much as I need you. You think being back in the Cage, and with Michael this time, has been a walk in the park? Uh, no. He's taken a lot of beatings in your name." He smirked.

She wanted to sigh for his comments but kept up the facade. "No, really, I'm alright," she assured the brothers. "Even if it is that I just go hunting or punch some trees and rocks. It helps to blow off steam. I've got it managed. I think I'm gonna shower and try to sleep again though. Night guys." She offered a peaceful smile before snatching up her bag and making off to her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

Dean licked his lips and sipped the beer in his hand. "Did you see any cuts or bruises like she'd been punching trees?"

Sam shook his head. "She had some dirt under her nails and grass stains on her knees. You don't think she's been praying to Lucifer, do you?"

"Could he even hear her from the Cage? Would it matter?"

Sam could only shrug.

Zarya was thankful most of the bedrooms had bathrooms attached. She stripped her clothes as she made her way to the bathroom grabbing her towels. It took a few pulls to get the hair tie out and bun undone. When the hot water hit her she practically melted. Not even Lucifer's commentary could bother her.

"Why exactly do you like the water so boiling?" He questioned, making a face at the hair tie with several stray hairs wound and knotted around it.

"Meals need to cook," Zarya replied simply with a small smirk.

He stopped in his tracks, brows raised, before he started to laugh. "Someone's certainly come out of her shell. You really were losing it without me around, weren't you, you poor thing?"

"Watch it, or I might lose whatever I've got left _with_ you in just my head."

Lucifer snickered, leaning against the counter beside the shower curtain. "See, that's the beauty of this entire situation - I'm not _just_ in your head. The link we share is a funny, tricky little thing. I'm still in the Cage, unable to access my full Grace, but I can still step through the veil just to you because you've got part of my Grace as well. That makes me very, _very_ real for you, but nonexistent to anyone without my Grace."

"What about Sam though? If he was supposed to be your 'true vessel' or whatever, shouldn't he have a connection to you as well?"

"While that is true, it's vastly different than what links you and I. Even if Sam could see me, that would be the extent of it. Zero interaction."

Her eyes sprung open suddenly. He had slapped the angel blade from her hand at the cemetery. She could feel his hand on hers. He wiped away her tears. But the Winchesters couldn't even see him. Her heart started to thump a little louder. She watched the shadow of him dragging his finger back and forth across the curtain as he paced. The curtain moved beneath his touch.

"Think of it similar to a haunting," he told her humorously. "Except the only way to make it stop is not to salt and burn my bones because, well," he snickered, "there are none."

"Then what's the only way to make it stop…?"

"Go to Hell and break the lock on my Cage."

She nearly slipped and fell, grabbing a shelf to brace herself. "You've gone mental!" She whisper yelled at him, wanting so badly to fully yell but knowing the consequences with the brothers' rooms each flanking hers.

"Did you ever find out more about that adoption?" He quipped in return.

She shrank back, looking down at the soap swirling into the drain. "Do you recall anything, actually?" She asked softly. "I...I was on the phone with Nick the night of the accident. I remember him screaming for me. We were like, seven. He had to know something, like my real parents."

"He knew," Lucifer replied softly. "He didn't know the extent of it like I think I do, but he knew well enough to keep his mouth shut."

Zarya ran her hands through her hair as the water washed the conditioner out of it. "What the fuck was so terrible about my parents?! Were they fucking mob bosses or something? Witness protection?"

He chuckled. "It wasn't just your parents, Rya. It's your ancestors as a whole. That crash was no accident; someone was purposely trying to murder the remaining humans of the line. It was a hit on your family that you weren't supposed to survive. That's why they changed your last name, giving you to the Deightons, and had a very powerful vampire compel you. You're in danger, Rya. And I'm the only one who can properly protect you."

Zarya reached to shut off the water, opening her mouth to ask more questions, when she found herself shoved against the shower wall with a finger to her lips. Even with the water as hot as it was, the air in the shower started to chill. She opened her eyes, staring up at bright blue. She opened her mouth, even against his finger telling her to hush, and he grabbed her wrists, pinning them to the wall. The water poured down on both of them and he smirked devilishly. "Just stop thinking for ten minutes, Rya. I'll actually get you answers."

Her knees were quaking beneath her. She was almost thankful he was pinning her, holding her there. In that instance, she no longer saw her best friend Nick staring down at her. Even if Nick had ever made a move on her he never would have been so bold. But oh Gods the curiosity to look down. "But that usually requires making a deal with the devil," she quipped, trying to keep her voice calm as he pressed himself up against her. "Meaning I owe you something in return."

He chuckled against her lips. "The only thing I want in return is you, Rya. Those arrogant boys might get to thinking what they hear could be caused by thoughts of them since I'm in the cage, so just this once, do try to keep yourself quiet."


	2. Starving For What I Hold So Dear

02: Starving For What I Hold So Dear.

Zarya's eyes opened in the dark of her bedroom at the bunker, illuminating a bright red-orange. When they settled, her eyes had become more blue than green. She sat up, her bare feet barely making any noise as they tapped across the cold floor. She listened at each wall, ensuring both brothers had long since fallen asleep. She quickly dressed and grabbed the bag that was always ready to go in case of emergency. Once she was dressed and ready she smirked and cracked her neck, rolling her shoulders. "You've been holding out this whole time, Rya. Wasting precious time." She shook her head and vanished in a flutter of feathers.

When she reappeared at a warehouse she stumbled, grabbing onto a wall for support. Her head throbbed. She blinked a few times and pinched the bridge of her nose, a more green eyed version of herself appearing translucently before her. She laughed a little and composed herself. "It didn't have to be this way, you know."

"Shut your pie hole," the more green eyed version of Zarya snapped. "You just hijacked my body, dick!"

Lucifer shrugged (using Zarya's body). "You want answers, sweetheart, and I'm going to get them. But first, we need what's in this container."

Zarya looked to the garage door on the container. "It'd been so long I forgot about it," she admitted. "All I knew was that I inherited something from some family member and it wasn't that important for me to check out."

He laughed a little and broke off the lock on the door with ease. "We've got a lot of compulsion to break then. I'm sure you could have done well with some wheels in your life, Rya." He ripped open the door, sending it flying up on its gears, and revealing a car beneath a cover. Yanking it off, the translucent version of Zarya gasped.

"A 1976 Cadillac coupe DeVille…" She breathed, eyes tearing up as she remembered. "1976...the year my mom was born…"

"Yes, good Rya! Remember! Look at the car and remember. With me in control of your body it weakens the compulsion because I'm too strong for it."

"How the fuck are you even doing this right now?"

"Perks of the bond. Remember, Rya."

"It's the car from the accident," she thought aloud as she walked around the vehicle. It was in mint condition. "My mom's car. Why is it here? Why was it left to me? Gods, it doesn't even look like it's been in a fucking accident! How?" Lucifer started to laugh and got in the driver's side, checking for keys. Flipping down the visor the keys fell right into his lap. "Oh hell no. Do you even know how to drive? Shouldn't this be crime scene evidence?"

"Easy, Rya," he chuckled. "Not only do you know how to drive and I'm currently in you-" He started to snicker like another comment was coming but he resisted, seeing the stern look on Zarya's face. "But it's a DeVille, sweetheart. It was practically made in my name."

She huffed and sat in the passenger's seat with her arms crossed as the car roared to life. She couldn't find the way or strength back into her body. "Fine. Where the hell are we even going?"

"A cute little town in Virginia."

* * *

"Something is not right about this town," Zarya commented across from her body driven by Lucifer at some little cafe.

As he typed on her laptop he looked over at her. She was clearly anxious, looking all around like something was going to happen. "You can feel it even when not in control then, good."

"Good? Let's get the fuck out of this Silent Hill town."

He chuckled. "Do you want answers about your family?"

"What the hell could my family roots have to do with such a morbid little backwoods Virginia town?"

"Nikolas Maxwell, actually. Born and raised in Mystic Falls, younger brother to Peter Maxwell."

"What about my mom? Was she from this creepy ass town?"

"Not from what I'm finding. Nikolas did attend for Whitmore college just outside of town for barely a year before dropping out so we'll look into that next. He probably met her there."

The barista called Zarya's name and Lucifer slipped out of the booth, leaving the laptop open. "Who knew the devil drank coffee," translucent Zarya teased. "What's the matter, this inception shit getting to you too?"

When he didn't respond, she followed his gaze that was locked onto someone. She let out a low whistle when she saw one woman's backside. She was paying for her coffee with a blonde beside her; her dark hair fell in waves down her back, the sunlight glaring off giving it a blood red tint. Her curves were perfect, legs going on for days. Zarya was almost jealous as it was the ideal figure she always craved. The two turned around with their coffees and nearly bumped into her body with Lucifer driving it. Her eyes widened as she stood to the side, completely unnoticed, and watched.

Lucifer pulled Zarya's lips into a sly smirk when he saw the ravenette's face. He knew those emerald green eyes anywhere. Zarya was gaping, finding a fancier reflection of herself in the woman. The duo stared intensely at one another for a long minute before the blonde was waving her hand between the two of them. "Do you two know each other or something?"

"No," the slightly taller ravenette drew out slowly without breaking eye contact. "Just bumped into each other. My bad."

The two nodded stiffly to one another before the blonde and latter ravenette made their way out of the cafe. Lucifer still smirked as he paid for and took the coffee, sipping it gingerly. "Okay, what the actual fuck was that?" She questioned as they sat back down.

"The blonde was a vampire," he told her bluntly. "This town is filled with vampires."

"And my creepy, better looking look-alike?"

"Also a vampire. Older than the blonde." He quickly packed up the laptop back in the backpack and left the cafe, heading towards the back where the DeVille was parked. "She's one of your ancestors."

* * *

They drove around for a couple of hours, getting intel on the town. The vampires that resided in Mystic Falls were a different breed than the ones she was used to killing with the Winchesters. Those vampires were born from the alpha vampire, but Mystic Falls birthed a new chain of vampires starting with the Originals a thousand years ago. Lucifer told her he wouldn't be surprised if one of the supposed Original vampires were another descendant of hers.

She watched Mystic Falls pass out the window. "Sam and Dean are bound to find me - or, at least, my body," she gave him a half glare, "in the middle of Vampireville. These vamps are even easier for them; standard stake or burning alongside decapitation. Options."

"These vampires are also weak to an herb called vervain. Don't expect any of your ancestors who have been turned to be though. The necklace the woman at the coffee shop wore was spelled by a witch to prevent her from burning in daylight."

"Really? It just looked like a nice necklace. I assumed her name began with an 'N'."

"It's lapis lazuli and a witch's spell but her name does begin with an 'N'."

"You know who she is?" She looked over and noticed just how exhausted her body looked. "It's not quite the same when half of you is still trapped in Hell, isn't it? You're going to need a nap eventually in my body."

He smirked over at her. "I was counting on it, actually."

The car pulled into a driveway of a nice looking brick home and parked. Lucifer shouldered the back and walked up to the front door with his sweetest, most Zarya-looking tired smile he could muster, and knocked. After a minute the door opened, revealing a tall man with black hair and icy blue eyes with a doe eyed brunette behind him. Doe eyes looked down at her phone and seemed rather put off by 'Zarya' being on the doorstep. He didn't miss the way she lifted the device and snapped a picture. He knew both of them were vampires, doe eyes being a brand new baby vamp.

"Zarya Deighton," he lied through her teeth. "I'm just passing through town and needed a place to crash for the night."

"Well, the boarding house is the closest thing to a hotel in town," Doe Eyes forced a smile. "If you'll excuse me, though, I've got to go get ready for a party." She quickly rushed past 'Zarya'.

The man stared down at 'Zarya' curiously before stepping aside. "Damon Salvatore. My brother and I took over the boarding house; no one really blows through town anymore, let alone stays for a night." He smirked.

"I'm doing research on my family," Lucifer told him through Zarya's voice. Damon led them upstairs towards a bedroom. "I recently found out I was adopted and I'm trying to find the truth about my birth family. I just couldn't drive anymore."

"You're welcome to use this room while you stay here, Zarya. It'll be pretty quiet today because I've got some errands to run but you'll typically see me, my brother Stefan, his girl Elena who was just here, or my fiance Nova around. Get some rest, kid, you look like you've been driving for days."

When the door closed behind Damon, Lucifer fell to the bed, Zarya's head throbbing. She was trying to claw her way back in after hearing Nova's name. She knew. She knew that was who they ran into at the cafe. She was clawing and kicking, desperately trying to gain control again. He closed her eyes, laying on the bed, and receded back into the depths of her mind with her.

"Her name is Nova?" Zarya chastised. They were back in her bedroom in Pike Creek in her mind. "Nova _what_? She's only his fiancee so it's not Salvatore yet. Who is she? How old is she? What does she know?"

Lucifer groaned and sat on the edge of her bed. "Do you ever stop? Due time, Rya."

"You could have mentioned Nikolas Maxwell and Damon might have known something!"

"And kept it to himself because it's valuable information. You're in vampire territory, Rya. Use your brain. And by the looks of it, the happy couple is banging on a century and a half with Doe Eyes being the newest addition to the line."

"What do you mean?"

When he didn't answer she asked again. He snarled and jumped up, backing her against a wall with his arms on either side of her. "Take a break, Rya. Unlike the Winchesters I will get you actual answers and results in a timely fashion because I acknowledge we are on a schedule. I heard every single prayer, cry, and scream for the last three years. I felt every time you woke up sobbing from another nightmare. I felt every angry outburst. Each time monster blood splattered across your face Michael's was splattering across mine. You have a birthmark of an arrow on your shoulder that I can guarantee you Miss Nova has as well. You are the safest by my side even when I'm still half in the Cage."

She leaned back against the wall, barely a couple of inches separating them. "Sam will find the record of you breaking the lock on the warehouse in my body. They'll get the make, model, and plates. They'll know within the next 24 hours that it's you and what I've done if they don't already."

"The Winchesters will be plenty preoccupied with Abaddon, the tablets, and whatever idiocy they can possibly find for themselves. Castiel will assure them that even if I am with you, I'm with only you. I'm still in the Cage, as I am, and there is the slimmest opportunity for you to break me out. But they'll know you'll have to jump through hoops first and will put it on the back burner giving us just enough time to find Zina Vasile's lost bracelet." He smirked, pressing up closer to her.

"Zina Vasile? Who the fuck is that and we do we want her bracelet?"

Lucifer chuckled against her lips. "Never ending questions with you."

"Then humor me with some answers," she smiled coyly up at him.

He started to laugh. "Maybe you are getting too much exposure to my Grace. I like it."

He tried getting closer but she put a finger to his lips and a hand on his chest, smiling tauntingly. "Ah-ah, I'd like a couple answers first before you fuck me up some more with this inception bullshit." She winked.

He groaned and rolled his eyes, snaking his arms tightly around his waist. "Zina Vasile is Nova's little sister and her bracelet is rumored to see through the veil and possibly cut a rift into it. Questions answered; shut your face."

Zarya was practically having a screaming match with Lucifer, each of them fighting their hardest to get control of her body. On the outside her body twitched and frowned as though she was having a nightmare. She finally got the upper hand by distracting him and hitting him hard with her hips. She was thrust back into her own body, jolting up and gasping for air. She nearly bashed skulls with someone else, realizing quickly that she was staring up at Nova Vasile. Actually being Zarya back in her body, her blue green eyes shined a little more green than blue again.

"Forgive me," Nova started off cautiously, "I don't mean any harm. I'm Damon's fiancee and help manage the property when the brothers are out."

Zarya stared up at the emerald eyed vampire with wide eyes of her own. She felt like she was looking up into the eyes of long lost family. As she stared at Nova, Lucifer's shouting became quieter. She could barely enjoy being back in her own body as hundreds of new questions brimmed at the tip of her tongue. If Nova really was her ancestor, why were Zarya's eyes so washed out with blue? Maybe it wasn't so bad; if her eyes were that green she really couldn't wear any shade of red if she didn't want to look like Christmas. "You don't need to lie to me," came out first. "I know you're a vampire."

Nova's eyes widened a little, brows raising. She chuckled. "That's fantastic but I wasn't lying." She held up her left hand, showing the old engagement ring. "Who exactly are you, kiddo? How'd you end up in Mystic Falls?"

She sighed and blew some hair out of her face. "My name _is_ Zarya Deighton." _At least, as far as I know right now._ "And you're not going to believe how I got here."

"There isn't a lot left in this world for me to not believe, Zarya," the vampire assured her.

She shrugged. "Okay, fine then; I'm bound to the archangel Lucifer. A couple of hunters put him back in the Cage in Hell but our bond gave him a special doorway into being my copilot and he dragged me here. Literally."

Nova stared at her and licked her lips. Zarya could see the disbelief on her pale face. Her phone chimed in her pocket and she slipped it out without breaking eye contact. Zarya didn't mind, she found herself captivated by Nova's magnificent emerald eyes. "You just might fit in around here if you stick around," Nova told her before checking the text message. She looked at Zarya once more before dashing out the door.

Lucifer appeared standing beside her bed. He looked disapprovingly down at her as she stared out the door where Nova had ran. "Why, in all of Heaven and Hell, would you just openly say that?"

"Didn't you notice the way she was? Something's going on around town, I'm the least of her worries. But she'll be too curious and do some digging of her own. I imagine being who she is and how old she is that she'll have some resources we might not. And honestly, I think she might be doing the same research we are."

He was impressed. Maybe she wasn't so lost and scatterbrained after all. "What makes you think so?"

"She didn't tell me her name," Zarya mused, the thoughts in her head coming together like puzzle pieces. "But she didn't care that I knew she was a vampire, she only told me she was Damon's fiancee."

"And what about that gives you the impression that she's doing her own family tree?"

"She's not confident enough in her name to give it. She's not sure about the truth behind it anymore. She's part of the third family too - the Vasiles, right?" She finally looked up at him. "That's the family we're hunting down?"

He looked down at her, seeing the green blue eyes pleading back up at him for answers. "Your mother's family." He offered her at last. "The Vasile clan is very old and very endangered. We're treading on very thin ice. No matter what you find out about the Vasile name you are not to take it until the threat to the family has been removed."

"What about my father's - Maxwell? I'm not a Deighton, I don't feel right using their name."

"While Maxwell is a common name, those hunting you have been tracking your family for millennias." Her eyes widened in surprise. "Like I said, very old family, Rya. The Vasile name has been watered down and abandoned by many over the years out of fear. Safe to assume the trackers pinpointed as many name changes and marriages as they could."

"So Maxwell would probably be flagged if the hit was purposeful when I was kid and if Zarya Maxwell showed up that they'd know immediately." She sighed. "I'm not just changing my name to something that doesn't matter to me. I want to honor and represent my family with pride. If the Vasiles are so mighty, why are they so scared and hiding in the shadows?"

Lucifer's lips twitched towards a half smile. He could practically see the fire burning bright in the little ravenette. Somewhere deep in the vastness of Hell he was knocking Michael around the Cage just for fun. "If you start calling yourself Zarya Vasile you will be putting a target on your back."

"Nova still carries the name. Safe to assume that she at least knows the dangers of it and she's working on why. I'm sure there's more out there; they just need to stop being so scared. They have even less of a reason if they're fucking vampires!" She got to her feet and looked at him, a newfound braveness in her eyes. "If the Vasile clan stood together, nobody hunting them - _us_ \- would stand a chance."

He smirked, realizing what she must have been thinking. "Sounds like you already have a plan in mind."

"I want to find the rest of the Vasiles," Zarya told him adamantly. "I want to help Nova find them too."

"Fine, but you're not running around using the Vasile name until we've found at least six."

"Two!" She argued, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's not a guarantee how many are still alive."

"Four."

"Three."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Three Vasile women and you can change your name. And no, Nova does not count." He smirked.

"How do you know they'll be women?"

"Because the Vasile name is latched to the women. Any time it's changed was because a Vasile woman surrendered her name. When the name was heavily used the husbands they took abandoned their own name for the Vasile. If she surrendered the Vasile name to his she was seen as weak and traitorous."

Zarya nodded slowly, taking in all the information. "Alright, so where do we start?"

A devilish smirk crossed his face. "At the very beginning, now that I am positive of who the Vasiles are."

"Are you fucking kidding me? You know who's at the top of ancestry chain, you dick?"

"Of course I do. I had a hand in starting it."

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry it's so short and kind of choppy and cryptic. For those who have read _Monster_ , you'll notice it aligns with chapter 25, Maybe It's Fear That Leads Your Rage. I started this too deep into _Monster_ so it's gonna take a bit to get on the same page, but by chapter 6 it'll be going chapter by chapter with _Monster_ pretty much. Just bear with me and everything will make sense soon! LOL

Stay tuned every Tuesday for new updates! And Thursdays for _Monster_!

Seriously though, find me on Facebook for updates!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan


	3. Now You're Stuck in My World

03: Now You're Stuck in My World.

"What in all of Hell is this place," Zarya shuddered, face grim and fearful. They had skipped out of Mystic Falls before anyone could notice, traveling hours away to a remote facility in northern California. It was as though someone took an old factory and revamped it not much nicer into a half ass horror movie hospital.

Lucifer stood beside her, seen only by her. "The Winchesters, in their hunt to kill me, went searching for my brother Raphael. They found one of his previous, temporary vessels discarded in a special care facility. Today you're going to meet a former vessel for another archangel."

Zarya made a face as she walked up the steps and into the building. "Who? Another of Raphael's?" She asked quietly as she neared the front desk.

"Ask the nurse to see Runa Vale. Show her the fake FBI badge the Winchesters gave you and tell her you're Runa's great granddaughter in town on a case."

She stopped in her tracks, biting her bottom lip. No one seemed to notice her. "And what if I don't happen to have said ID?"

Lucifer sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well I suppose you're just going to have be one hell of a great granddaughter then. Hope you learned improv somewhere in your life."

Zarya cursed under her breath before slapping on a smile and walking up to the charge nurse who looked at her funny. "Hi, uhm, I'm here to see someone I haven't seen in a very long time; my great grandma."

"And you think she's here?"

"My mom passed away recently and I had to go through her stuff. In it she had some letters to her grandma she always wanted to send but never got the chance. I'd like to meet my great grandma. Runa Vale."

The nurse's eyes widened behind her glasses when she heard the name. She gave Zarya a once over and realized just how much she actually looked like said resident. "Miss Runa has never had any visitors or mail. She's not very sociable anymore, I warn you. She's quite old now and just trying to live out the rest of her days in peace."

"That's fine, I won't stay too long. I just wanted to meet my great grandma before it was too late, you know? I didn't really get to have much of a relationship with my mom and she never told me anything about her mom." She gave a soft frown in sadness.

The nurse offered a small smile and stood, ushering her through the halls. "I understand, kiddo. Maybe it'll do Miss Runa some good to see a sweet face like yours."

When they reached Runa's door the nurse left back down the hall to give Zarya some time and space. She took a deep breath with her hand on the door. "Is she like, almost a corpse?" She asked the archangel at her side that only she could see. "Or a vegetable?"

Lucifer chuckled. "I'm not sure what she'll be like anymore. Truthfully, she's not here living out the end of her life. She's far too old for that already."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means she's older than Mystic Falls' so-called Originals by a good couple thousand years. The people here were hand picked to care for her, thinking that she's just an innocent old woman. She's only worn out because she was a vessel. She's still got tricks up her sleeve. Nice job on the sappy granddaughter thing. Go meet your granny." He snickered. If she could have smacked him she would have gladly.

Taking another breath, she knocked gently and turned the handle. "Runa…?" She called softly, cautiously stepping into the little room.

She found a wheelchair pointed towards the large, bay windows with a fragile woman sitting in it. The woman's hair was still black as the night, only a few strands of white poking through. She was thin looking against the wheelchair, a black blanket over her lap. Slowly, one of her frail hands lifted, a long, slender finger calling Zarya closer. Even the woman's nails were long, pointed, and painted black like Nova's. Zarya glanced out of the corner of her eye to Lucifer who urged her forward, finding it humorous. When Zarya was close enough the chair started to spin around slowly.

"Your name, child," Runa spoke, her voice scratchy but regal.

"Tell her who you are," Lucifer told her. "Who you really are."

She cleared her throat, hands clutched nervously to the strap of her bag. "My name is Zarya, ma'am. Zarya…" She thought for a moment. "Zarya Vasile-Maxwell. Adopted by the Deightons for protection."

Runa turned her chair all the way around to look at Zarya, thinking she was lying about her name. Her old, hollowed eyes looked up in wonder at the young ravenette before her. Zarya could see that Runa's eyes were once a gallant emerald, but they had dulled drastically over the years so badly there was almost no color left. Zarya saw Runa's eyes look to her side which made her apprehensive; that was where Lucifer stood. She inhaled a breath but found herself too anxious to let it out.

"Three thousand years and I never thought I would live to see the day…" Runa breathed. Her slender hands moved the blanket off her lap and wrapped around the arms of her chair, helping her stand up. She was looking between Zarya and Lucifer, whom she shouldn't have been able to see. She walked up to Zarya, the two women being of similar height, easily staring one another in the eyes. Zarya was starting to struggle, still holding her breath in fear even more so with Runa staring her down. "Give me your hands, child." She saw the girl's green blue eyes flick to her side. "Don't go expecting direct answers from him all the time. He's a wise mouth."

"So you _can_ see me," Lucifer smirked. "Take her hands, Rya. This keeps getting better and better."

Slowly she let out the breath she had been holding and shakily held her hands out, palms up. Runa's placed her even paler and slender hands on top of Zarya's, both of their hands positively freezing. Zarya felt a shock of icy lightning and lurched back instinctively. Runa's hands clamped tightly around her descendant's, forcing her to stay. The lights started to flicker, frost creeping onto the windows. Zarya could feel something being pulled out of her and into Runa. A high pitched buzzing shattered glass around the room and made its way down the hall. The lock on the door flipped, preventing anyone from entering. The icy wind made its way into the small room, blowing the women's hair around. Runa's eyes started to get less wrinkly and tired, the emerald in her irises springing to life. Once her eyes lit up, glowing a magnificent emerald, Zarya's did the same.

After a few minutes everything just stopped. Zarya fell backwards, Lucifer catching her before she hit the floor. He almost couldn't believe his eyes, let alone his human companion who was stuttering and starting to hyperventilate. Runa stood tall and pulled her hair from the bun it had been in. The raven waves fell down her back, shimmering a silver in the light behind her. Her emerald eyes had ignited, all life and color restored. It was as though new life had been breathed into her, making her look young all over again. She grinned and started going through her drawers and closet, flinging clothes about and dressing herself.

"This feels so much better, let me tell you," Runa grinned as she flung off the dark grey dress she originally wore. "I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever see another Vasile. I never got to see what came of my family."

Lucifer helped Zarya to her feet, keeping a hand on her lower back to make sure she wouldn't fall again. "About that precious family of yours, we're going to need some help tracking them down. Some are still alive, mostly vampires by now."

Runa slid a shirt over her head and looked at them both very seriously. "So she did do it then. Astonishing."

"Can one of you explain to me what the actual fuck is going on?" Zarya exclaimed. "Shouldn't there be orderlies barging down that down any second?"

"I'm sure there will be much worse than orderlies kicking down that door in a matter of minutes," the elder woman replied. "I fully intend on helping you find my family. If it weren't for you, Zarya, I'd still be stuck in that chair with my only hope being Remiel coming for me and I realized long ago that it would never happen."

"Remiel," Zarya repeated. "That's the other archangel?"

"And my favorite sister," Lucifer smirked. "You need to get out of here and to the car now. Whoever is hunting the Vasiles will be here and I don't doubt the Winchesters will be too far behind."

"I'm nowhere near some empty shell," Runa smiled. "Think about where you are parked and take my hand."

Hearing boots stomping through the halls, Zarya quickly thought of her black Cadillac in the lot and grabbed the woman's hand. When she opened her eyes again they were sitting in the car. Zarya quickly snatched the keys from her pocket and started the vehicle, peeling out of the lot without looking back. "Okay, I've officially crossed into crazy land." She sighed.

Runa laughed in the passenger's seat. "Oh darling you don't even know the half of it. A holy Hell of a long time ago I was just a poor woman on my deathbed. I was going to be another unmarked grave, dead from a disease no one had a name for. One night I was visited by a beautiful woman claiming to be an angel who could save my life. All that was requested to heal my body and as payment was that my body would be her vessel. She warned me it would be dangerous, that she'd been on Earth for some time and hunted by merciless people."

"What did they want from her?" Zarya asked quietly.

"Her wings," Lucifer replied darkly, staring out the window in the back of the car. "Remiel was the most loyal but most feared angel in all of the garrisons. Michael was the good soldier, Gabriel always goofing off, Raphael just had something up his ass."

Zarya laughed softly, almost making him smile. "And you had the brightest Grace of all of your brothers."

Runa looked back at the archangel in the rearview mirror; she hadn't anticipated Zarya's comment, surely Lucifer hadn't either. And he didn't look like he had. "At least you say my brothers because sometimes she shined brighter than even me," he muttered.

"Remiel mentioned to me once that after you fell, before the Cage, that she would help sneak you around Heaven still," Runa spoke softly with a smile. "She had been too afraid to leave Heaven but it was too painful to go without you for too long."

Zarya shifted in her seat uncomfortably, a strange feeling scratching in her chest. She looked to the rearview mirror at Lucifer whose face offered no explanations. "Why can you see me?" He asked, completely diverting the topic.

Runa rolled her eyes, expecting something of the sort. "Well I would imagine it's because I'm a direct link to Remiel like your companion over here, Doctor." When both of them scrunched their faces in confusion she sighed. "Really? I've been on Earth three thousand years and I've seen every episode of Doctor Who ever, slowly rotting without my angel host, but not even you," she looked to Zarya, "has? Moody back there I understand, I don't imagine there's cable or wifi hookups in Hell." He shot her a glare which she grinned at. "I was Remiel's first vessel on Earth. A vessel she used for a very long time. As the line continued, the family growing with the Vasile name, there would be adaptations."

"What sort of adaptations…?" Zarya questioned hesitantly, eyes flicking from the road to her passenger.

"She didn't reign in an entire clan," Lucifer realized, looking slowly towards Runa. "It was only just you. She started the Vasile clan herself by having a child in your body, didn't she?" Zarya's eyes widened, fingers gripped tightly around the wheel as she listened.

Runa took a breath before answering. "It was complicated, Lucifer, please keep that in mind."

"Start explaining or I'll keep nothing in mind."

"For the first decade of being in my body we had to adjust. I was that close to death. She had taken the Fall after finding out that they locked you in the Cage and she had no way to reach you. But she didn't leave empty handed."

"She took the stone," he realized.

Runa nodded solemnly. "Michael sent anyone he could after her. He knew what she could do with it, what she would when she had the power to. But he also knew that taking you away really damaged her. She did her best to hide on Earth but being who she was it wasn't exactly easy for her. The decade she spent reviving my body put her under the radar. Michael started to give up. We traveled and she adjusted to humanity. She was too powerful for my practically decaying body and had to wait. Over the course of the next few centuries she started regaining her power and Grace, my body adapting to the angel inside. I became strong enough to host the archangel.

"She allowed me to live my own life alongside hers to better keep up the facade. With her help, I made a name for myself. A king from a dying country pleaded for my hand to better the country. He couldn't watch his people die anymore. I took pity and said I would under the condition that he would take my name."

"Vasile," Zarya breathed.

She nodded again. "He agreed and I got pregnant. Not Remiel, she wasn't in control of my body at the time."

"But you were still hosting an archangel," Lucifer argued.

"Which is exactly what made it so dangerous. Had it been Remiel in command it would have been less concerning. Concerning for its own reasons, but not under the premise that what would have been a normal, human infant was affected by Remiel's Grace. I was essentially the host for not only an archangel, but a human child who was feeding off of the archangel keeping both of us alive and becoming a nephilim."

"Not even Remiel would have the ability in such a state to keep both you and the child alive if that's true," he continued to argue.

"No, she couldn't do it herself. She was terrified. But she refused to lose either of us. I had become her closest friend and ally and she cared for the child as if it were her own. She could feel the baby siphoning off of her, she formed a bond with it. So she had a couple of somethings found to use when I went into labor."

Lucifer's gaze turned coldly to the former vessel. "What did she take and use, Runa?"

She turned and looked him in the eye solemnly. "Her stone and one of your feathers." Runa watched both Lucifer's and Zarya's eyes widen with shock and disbelief. "She still has two more hidden somewhere along with three of her own."

Zarya didn't want to speak too quickly, not that she knew what she would even say. Her life had become such a mess. She looked in the rearview mirror to Lucifer and jumped a little when she found him already looking at her. It was eerily silent for a long minute before he spoke. "What was the child's name?"

Runa smiled softly. "Saskia Vasile. A beautiful baby girl and the only one I'd ever have."

* * *

"You seem more quiet than just the anticipated shock," Runa told Zarya with a soft smile, offering her a cup of tea. They had found a nice motel to relax at for a few hours. Zarya wanted to see if she could find out if the Winchesters were onto her or not yet.

She sighed, head hung low over her laptop. "He's been quiet," she muttered. "Usually he's…"

"A raging pain in the ass?" The former vessel smiled, sitting across from Zarya.

She laughed a little and leaned back in the chair. "Yeah, pretty much. But he's all I've got." She shrugged awkwardly. "Losing Nick left me with nothing. Then, out of everything that could have possibly happened, freakin' Lucifer has my best friend's body. Sometimes I'm still under the impression that I'll wake up back in Pike Creek and run next door in my pajamas to make sure Nick and Sarah are still there."

"My sincerest apologies, Zarya, but I'm afraid this is your reality. I hadn't anticipated the Vasile name to be brought back to life. Saskia...she was a breath of beautiful fire. She was so, so strong. She knew very young who and what she was. She knew about Remiel and I, everything. She vowed to take the life she was given and not waste it. I hadn't realized her intent was to further the family name. To hear the words Vasile clan would bring a smile to my face until I remember that each of the women who brave this name and lineage carry a great weight and darkness. They are and have been hunted just as Remiel was."

"Why though? Lucifer had said it was for her wings, but first of all who gains what from that? And second, why hunt the rest of us? What's so special?"

"Michael put the order out to hunt and kill any nephilim to walk the Earth. Each descendant from Saskia was born with angel blood, no matter how small. Each woman is linked through blood. Each woman has a target on their backs. Michael sought out Remiel's wings as punishment for siding with Lucifer and taking her stone because of how cherished an angel's wings are. Take their wings and they have nothing left, no hope. Remiel wasn't going to let that happen. Not when she was the Angel of Hope."

Zarya looked her in the eye in a way that reminded her of both Lucifer and Remiel. It made Runa smile a little inside. "Then like Sam was meant to be Lucifer's vessel, and Dean Michael's, I'm meant for Remiel, aren't I?"

She nodded. "I held her as long as possible before it was too dangerous for either of us. She made sure I would be safe at the facility you found me in, wards engraved in the walls. I don't know where Remiel is, or what she is or has been up to, but I know she's still alive. Just as you could feel Lucifer in Hell for the last three years I can feel that Remiel is alive. Not as strong as she once was, but she's fighting."

"What's that stone you and Lucifer keep talking about?"

"Rem's stone. It was her everything, essentially. Granted her limitless possibilities. Divination, Transmutation, even Necromancy. God made her vow not to use it selfishly and not to let it overwhelm her. When Lucifer Fell and Michael caught wind about Remiel helping him still, he first went to confiscate her stone knowing all she would have left were her arrows. But she hid with the stone trying to seek out Gabriel when Michael cast Lucifer to the Cage. She abandoned any plans she had prior and swan dived down to Earth."

Zarya crossed her legs on the chair and leaned her head back, staring up at the off white ceiling. "What do you know about breaking the lock on the Cage?" She mumbled with her head back still.

Runa's eyebrows raised as she sipped her tea. "I know that it's not just one lock, child. It was a holy mess of seals and a special chunk needed to be broken in just the right ways. The Winchesters managed to do that the first time."

Her head snapped back, concern growing in her green blue eyes. "Yeah but what about since they sent him back? Is there a way to open it again?"

"You're really quite determined, aren't you, child?"

"I screwed up, okay?" She sat forward with her hands on the table. "I put my trust in the Winchesters. Since then it's been alphas, Leviathans, Dick freakin' Roman dicking with my burgers; for fuck's sake, Dean even went to Purgatory. Already been to Heaven and Hell, might as well make a round trip. If they can keep going back and forth who's to say I can't?"

Runa laughed a little. "What, do you plan to storm the halls of Hell until you reach the belly of the beast and just open sesame the Cage? The very Cage created to house solely Lucifer for being too strong?"

"He said Zina Vasile was rumored to have a bracelet that could cut through to the Other Side and break open rifts. I suspect either that or some other Vasile trinket through the ages will make my life a little easier."

"Zina Vasile…" Runa mused. She pulled back her sleeve and showed her descendant a gold and amethyst bracelet she wore. "I think I know exactly what you're talking about. You don't need just hers, you might need all or most of them just like the horsemen's rings."

"How do we find out how many I need? What exactly are they anyways?"

"My mother was a gypsy who dabbled in some hoo-doo. She made me a bracelet charmed to give me strength. I had one made for Saskia - silver and sapphire - charmed with my own life force to always show her the light. I suspect she continued the tradition with her own family."

"I'll see what I can find about anything after Saskia and before Zina and Nova Vasile." She reached for her laptop but Runa slapped her hands away.

"I will look into my own daughter's life," she smiled at Zarya. "I may be pretty damn old but I have learned how to use a laptop. I think you should go have a talk with someone." She winked.

Her cheeks turned light pink. "It's really not good when he's quiet for this long, is it?" She asked quietly.

"Remiel used to tell me stories about Lucifer. She was never not smiling and laughing with each story, but he was always the loudest in the room. Always gaining everyone's attention. Especially hers. I think it might do him so good to know that he's got yours."

Zarya let out a heavy breath and nodded. "Alright, but if I wake up and it's him in my body then stop him; this inception shit is bad enough."

* * *

When she opened her eyes after laying down, Zarya was standing in a hallway. She ran her fingers gently down the wall, making her way towards the cracked door at the end of the hall. Everything else in the house was pitch black except that one room. She knew the hallway, and the room at the end of the hall. She was back home in Pike Creek. Carefully, she pushed open her bedroom door and found Lucifer laying on her bed, playing with a stuffed bear.

She smiled softly, wrapping her arms around herself and leaning against the doorframe. "Why my old bedroom in Pike Creek?"

He didn't move, and instead turned the teddy to face Zarya while holding it against his face so only his blue eyes peeked over the bear's head. "I like your color scheme."

She couldn't help but laugh and drop down on the edge of the bed beside him. "Gee, thanks. The walls are Luxe Lilac. Now give me my teddy back." He shook his head, shaking the teddy mockingly in front of her. "I know it's not my real teddy so you don't bother me." She laughed again.

"Any word on the Winchesters?"

She shook her head. "Not that I can find. Unless he's scrambling the info I'm getting, I don't even think Sam has seen the warehouse footage. But I have been talking to Runa."

"Oh yeah?" He scoffed. "And what exactly has she told you?"

"Apparently the Vasiles have been passing down the tradition of charmed bracelets like Zina's. They should work like the horsemen's rings and-"

"You need three of them," he interrupted.

"What?"

"If the bracelets still exist then you need three of them and Rem's stone in the middle. One of the bracelets has to be yours."

She blinked a few times. "Uh, alright, so, where the fuck am I supposed to get Rem's stone or the bracelets - let alone one I apparently have? - and what the fuck is up with these bracelets?!"

Lucifer chuckled a little. "If each Vasile woman has one that had been made for her then it has adapted to her blood. The bracelets respond to each individual woman. It wouldn't have worked if it wasn't a tradition kept strong through the millennia but hey, guess it is an option now."

Zarya opened her mouth to yell at him when she was overcome with a wave of vertigo and nausea. He sat up immediately, seeing something not right with her. She started to break out in a cold sweat. "Something's wrong…"

"This might hurt a little," he warned her before pressing his fingers to her temples. They both saw flashes of Nova, and a handful of other ravenettes with either black or green irises. "The link in your Vasile blood is getting stronger."

"So we can find the others?"

"Why are you so bent up over this?"

"What's your issue? Everything was just fine until you realized what had become of Remiel even though you already had your suspicions. Now we have a solid lead. And if I only need three bracelets to blow the door on the Cage then I'm golden. We just need mine, I could get Nova's, and you already knew about Zina's. Runa even still has hers. It's hope, Lucifer."

A sly smirk started to grow on his lips. "Turned your back on the Winchesters entirely already? And here I thought it would take some convincing to get a jailbreak. What changed your mind? My irresistible charm?"

She laughed dramatically and whipped her head away from him. "There's that ego, always thinking everything is about you."

He snaked his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "What other reason would you have to blow the door on the Cage? Because when you open that door there is no shutting it again. They can't put me back and they have no way to kill me but they will keep trying. Can you deal with that?"

She leaned back into him, staring out the door into the pitch dark hallway. "Yes."

* * *

 **A/N:** So I guess expect slightly later updates because it's finally been warm in New England? LOL

Slowly but surely we're making progress with this. Within the next few chapters we'll be aligned with season 9 of Supernatural and _Monster_. Follow/favorite/review and be sure to like my Facebook page (Kuraki-chan) for more information!

Stay tuned for Thursday's update of _Monster_!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan


	4. Breathtaking Blinding Truth

04: Breathtaking Blinding Truth.

"The highlights," Crowley smirked towards his lengthy contract, "we swap tablets, you stand down from the trials forever."

"You stop killing everyone we've ever saved," Sam added.

"Agreed. I am curious though, what's become so important that you're willing to trade me the demon tablet for the angel one?"

"None of your bees guts," Dean replied harshly.

Crowley snickered. "Ah, so it's personal then. I'm assuming a fine young woman, probably someone else you've saved? No, she'd have been on my list then. Someone you couldn't save, but are still trying to. Mixed up in angel business is she?"

"Her name is Zarya Deighton," Sam defended protectively.

The King of Hell made a face. He knew that name somewhere, but it wasn't quite right. "If that doesn't ring a bell," came the elder Winchester, "try Zarya Vasile."

He nearly stumbled backwards with the shock. "Oh bloody hell no. Neither of you ever speak that name again, understand? Especially not in my presence. You two imbeciles barked up the wrong tree this time. Lucifer will be looking for her."

"You mean you haven't heard?" Dean quipped coldly. "He already had. We tossed his sorry ass back in the Cage and he still weaseled his way through to her. We need to find her before she does something really stupid."

"What the bloody hell are you hoping to accomplish? Break the bond they share? Give me a break, it was forged by God's freaking hand himself. If Lucifer already found her then he's the least of your worries. That clan has been hunted for centuries upon centuries in search of the angel who started it all."

"An angel started the Vasile clan…?" Sam asked skeptically.

"An archangel. The Angel of Hope. Remiel. Even I would rather go three rounds in the bloody Cage with Lucifer than that one."

"What makes her so scary if she's supposed to be the Angel of Hope?"

"She was Lucifer's charge. They were a reckless tag team. Anything he could do she could and would do stronger for him. Everything she did was for him. That's what makes her so bloody terrifying."

* * *

"What the hell is that…?" Zarya breathed. She pressed slowly on the brake until the Cadillac stopped on the side of a dark road. In the night sky above it looked like thousands of stars were raining down.

Runa's hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide with horror. "Is that what I think it is?"

Lucifer stared out the window pensively to the lights shooting down from the dark. "Angels. They're falling."

" _What?_ " The driver gasped in disbelief. "What the fuck do you mean angels are falling? I mean, how many angels fell – hundreds, thousands? And nobody sees anything?"

"Humans will call it a meteor shower," he replied darkly, still watching the sky. "Something happened to force them all out at once."

Zarya was about to start driving again when something strange echoed through her ears. By the looks on Runa and Lucifer's faces, they were hearing it as well.

" _Screw it. Okay, listen up. This one goes out to any angel with their ears on. This is Dean Winchester... And I need your help."_

"Oh gods no," she breathed, her knuckles turning white around the wheel from her tight grip.

" _The deal is this – Linwood Memorial Hospital…"_

"Why can I hear this?" Her voice cracked.

" _...Randolph, New York."_

"You're meant to be Remiel's vessel," Runa answered quickly. "You're currently tied to Lucifer who's still half in the Cage."

" _The first one who can help me gets my help in return…"_

"I was a former vessel. And you do care about the Winchesters, Zarya."

" _...and you know that ain't nothin'."_

"Who else can hear this?!"

" _Hell, it's no secret that we haven't always seen eye to eye."_

"Every single angel," Lucifer answered grimly.

" _But you know that I am good for my word."_

"Something happened to Sam," Zarya concluded. "He wouldn't be this stupid otherwise."

" _And, uh, I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't needing, so…"_

"New York is where we were headed to find Adina Vasile anyways," Runa suggested.

" _I just can't lose all three of them in one go…"_

Zarya's lips parted slowly, eyes welling with tears. She knew full well what he had meant. Two would have easily been Sam and Castiel, but he was also talking about her. Her eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and found Lucifer's already staring back. He waited for her to make a move, looking away only when she continued driving towards to New York.

* * *

"You want to help? Start with a name."

The tall man stared back at Dean calmly. "Ezekiel."

"All right, Ezekiel. How do I know you're not hunting me or Castiel like the other angels?"

"Oh, I'm sure there are many angels who are. Many more are on their way here, most likely."

"How do you know that?"

"You put out an open prayer like that…"

"I must really be desperate," Dean sighed.

Ezekiel stood from his chair, looking down at Dean. "Believe it or not, some of us still do believe in our mission. And that means we believe in Castiel...and you. I heard whispers of you and your brother protecting a human descendant of the Vasile family, is that true?"

He looked at the angel skeptically. "What's it to you?"

"You must tread very carefully now that the angels have fallen. They are hunting you, but they've also been hunting the Vasiles for eons."

"Why? What the hell do angels want with the Vasiles?"

"They were descended from a fallen archangel. An archangel who unknowingly created an entirely new line and kind of nephilim. Not only did Michael already have an order out to kill every and any nephilim on Earth, but to put the Vasiles at the top of the list. They are unlike any nephilim to exist. Stronger, more adaptive. In my opinion, I believe Michael is afraid of them."

* * *

Zarya took a breath as she stared at the old door before her. She had looked away when it came time to pass Randolph's sign, continuing towards her own destination. It took a lot of driving around to find the old manor buried deep in the woods outside of New York City. For most of it, Runa and Zarya relied on the pull towards another Vasile they felt in their chests. Runa put a warm hand comfortingly on her shoulder, offering a small smile. She looked to Lucifer at her other side, his face showing an unreadable indifference. She gave way to a small sigh before tapping her knuckles against the wood.

"You call that a knock?" Lucifer scoffed.

Zarya shrugged timidly. "She should be able to hear it if she's a vampire," she muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

She didn't know what to expect from Adina Vasile. In her brief time with Nova she could feel the Romanian's stature and Power. Nova held herself upright and regally but there was also a gentleness to her, Zarya could feel that much. She was starting to feel out of place being the only human left to the Vasile name. Not even Runa could be classified as human really anymore, not after the centuries she spent with Remiel in her. Though she didn't care to show it, and because it did take some effort on her part, Runa could do some special things. Like shield them from angels and demons for some time or teleport somewhere nearby. Zarya couldn't do anything special. She could fight, sure; she had some hunter training even. But Zarya wasn't a vampire, or even a vessel. Lucifer was still in the Cage only able to haunt her.

She froze up when the locks behind the door started to click, the knob turning painfully slowly. The door opened just a crack, enough for a pair of dark emerald eyes to stare through. The eyes widened as they stared at the other two women and the door whipped open. Adina was a tall woman, maybe 5'6" or so, with standard Vasile features; long, dark hair, high cheekbones, hourglass figure, and mesmerizing green eyes. Zarya noticed how dark of an emerald Adina's eyes were, comparing them to Nova's bright ones. She figured they'd all look similar being related, not almost exact copies with small tell-tale differences.

"Vasile women," Adina breathed, using the door and frame for support. Her eyes landed on Zarya, a look of pride and protection about them. "And one still human. I never thought I would live to see the day…"

Zarya shifted her weight again, awkwardly holding the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "Stupid question I'm sure, but how can you be so positive?" Maybe it was just her time spent with Sam and Dean, questioning everyone. Salt, silver, holy water. Never trust people just by who they say they are when shifters and worse exist.

Adina smiled softly and ushered them inside, relocking the door behind them. With a flick of her wrist several little candles lit up around the parlour. "Vasiles are very particular creatures, child. We have defining qualities about us that's easily seen when you have them yourself. I avoided searching for anyone that may remain because anytime someone does they end up dead or missing." Her lips turned to a sad frown. "Like my niece."

Runa offered a peaceful smile and gave Zarya a gentle push on her lower back. They joined Adina and sat down, Zarya's eyes wandering about all of the manor they could see. "This is Zarya Deighton-Vasile," the former vessel told Adina. "I'm Runa."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "Runa Vasile…? You aren't just a myth?"

She laughed a little. "No, I'm not, I assure you. I was a peasant on her deathbed when an archangel offered to save my life. What happened to your niece, if you don't mind my asking?"

Adina sighed and took a golden locket from around her neck. She clicked it open, showing them an old photo of a similar looking girl. "Her name was Nessa," she smiled sadly. "She was my sister Ilana's daughter. I was a cursed twin, the elder of the two of us." She shook her head. "Ilana and I were always fighting about something. Everyone thought we'd kill each other one day."

"Wh-what are 'cursed twins'?" Zarya chimed in timidly, feeling stupid for having to ask.

"A common but random feat of the clan," the elder Vasile replied. "Curse twins are when two Vasile women are born together. Never the males; there has never been male twins. Even having a son was a rare but necessary feat. Nessa had an older brother who went on to further the line. But the twins…" She shook her head again. "They are destined to kill one another." Zarya's eyes widened. "Too much Power like that is consuming. The twins will always fight and usually in the end one will kill the other. Both twins cannot walk this Earth in harmony.  
"The women of our clan are commonly born with either onyx or emerald eyes. Twins are the anomaly that causes both - one sister with emerald, one with eyes as dark as the night. The rumor is that the women born with black eyes have a deeper tie to the darkness of our blood."

Lucifer put his hand on Zarya's shoulder suddenly, making her jump. She didn't look behind her, unsure if Adina should know she sees (and feels) Lucifer or not. "The women born with black eyes have a stronger to Remiel and I," he told her quietly. There was something in his voice she just couldn't figure out. "Because of our graces tainting the human line it causes Remiel's dark eyes in the women. Those born with green eyes are closer related to Runa and humanity which actually makes _them_ more lethal, mainly because the angelic blood has been so watered down through the centuries."

She bit her lip. Adina could see something in the girl's eyes thinking hard; the wheels were turning. After a moment even Runa looked to her. Her eyes glanced upward, seeing Lucifer. How had she not noticed him before? "What if the black eyes are because of our descendance to the archangel Remiel?" Surprise flashed through Adina's face. "And the green is the descendance from Runa?" She looked to the emerald eyed former vessel.

"Where would you get such an idea, child?" Adina breathed.

"Because the archangel that saved my life was Remiel," Runa explained. "I'm the first, the beginning of our line. Remiel took the Fall after Heaven started to crumble. She found me, a poor woman on her deathbed, and sought asylum in me from those hunting her."

Zarya took a breath and looked up to Lucifer who gave a small nod. "Remiel took the Fall after her ward fell. She was Lucifer's charge and now Lucifer is my copilot. He's literally right behind me." She shrugged shyly.

Adina's hand was over her mouth, the locket clutched tightly in her other hand. She started to nod slowly. "It makes sense now…"

"What do you mean?" Runa questioned. "And, if I may, who turned you?"

Dark memories resurfaced in Adina's eyes. She didn't look at either of them as she spoke, the memories playing out before her painfully. "Ilana had me tried and drowned for witchcraft when we were 25. I was making preparations for my own wedding, having finally settled on a man to appease our parents. Next thing I knew I was being hauled away on counts of witchcraft. When I got married I was to take the throne. Ilana had Nessa out of wedlock and married a man in an attempt to cover it but doing so ruined her chances of getting the throne. I had to marry and take the throne before our parents died or there would be war.  
"As I laid in my cold, dark cell awaiting the carriage in the morning to take me to the lake a woman in all black snuck in with ease. I thought I was hallucinating. She asked me if I wanted to live and of course I did! She told me since I had gone missing that Nessa was asking around about me. She heard rumors of witchcraft accusations and fought for my innocence. She said I could live and find my niece before her mother killed her too but I had to relinquish the throne to Ilana. She handed me a glass vial of red and told me to drink it if I wanted to see Nessa again.  
"I asked her if it was witchcraft, like _real_ witchcraft. She laughed and asked what it mattered when I was about to die with 'witch' forever branded on my name. She knew who I was, that I was a supernatural sympathizer. The real witches and vampires and wolves I helped escape since I was a child. She knew if I had the opportunity I would have been a real witch because of who started the family line. That it was in my blood. She told me to drink the entire vial and that I would survive the trial tomorrow, dead to those who mattered. I would forever be a vampire, and a special one at that. Special enough to protect Nessa. I chose life and my niece."

Zarya could see pain brewing on Runa's face. The woman's hands started to quiver. "Did you...did you get a good look at the woman…?"

"I will never forget her face." Adina shuddered. "Feline like eyes that shined like emerald stones with hair as dark as the night falling around her flawless, porcelain face with high, pointed cheekbones. When she handed me the vial a bracelet peeked out from her sleeve." She pulled back her own sleeve, showing a silver and aquamarine bracelet. "Hers was silver and sapphire. I knew something wasn't right because of how alike we looked, and with such similar bracelets. I thought I was being haunted or hallucinating. When I rose from the lake hours after they pronounced me dead and I tore into some stranger's throat I finally knew it was real."

Runa gasped, tears brimming her eyes. "How…?" Her voice cracked. She knew it was her daughter, her sweet Saskia. How had she become a vampire? Why was she doing what she did? What else had she done over the centuries…?

"She was planning for survival," Lucifer spoke suddenly in the same tone as when he mentioned Remiel. "Once she found out about immortality and vampires she knew she could use her nephilim blood to amplify it, to protect the Vasile blood and name from Michael."

Zarya looked up at him, further confusing Adina. "What's her endgame then? Why is she doing things like this?"

He was silent for a moment before looking to Runa. "I apologize, Runa," he surprised the women. "I do remember Saskia." He held his hand out to Zarya and she hesitantly took it. Adina gasped, grabbing the arms of her chair tightly when she could finally see the archangel. "I still have some tricks up my sleeve, even from Hell. But this isn't something these two can properly repeat back to you."

"Lucifer, what are you talking about?" the only human in the room asked quietly.

"Saskia Vasile was Cain's first technical wife." The three women collectively gasped and gaped in horror. "They had crossed paths and he tried to kill her with the First Blade. When she didn't die, instead opting to rip out the blade and laugh, she became a valuable asset to him. He found himself infatuated with her. She bore him children - the very first Cursed Twins of the clan. Cassia and Daciana Vasile.  
"The problem was that Saskia's blood had adapted to things. After spending centuries beside Cain, her life already extended being a special nephilim, the Mark of Cain had burned itself into her as well. The Mark became the mark of her eternal mate, wherever her cold heart may reside. Bearing the Mark during childbirth is what created the line of the Cursed Twins. That much Power overwhelmed even Saskia and she died in childbirth. Cain lost whatever was left of his mind. He took his two girls and gave them to a good human family rising to power. He gave them the Vasile name and turned his back.  
"Saskia, however, didn't remain dead. The Mark brought her back from the Other Side, made her stronger. She learned what happened to her daughters and that they were taken care of so she moved forward with her own plans. Funny enough, Daciana ended up calling to me years later. The girls were brought up in a Catholic family and time. Daciana prayed to God, but felt like she was speaking to no one. She took the chance once night and spoke to me. When I answered her back, I couldn't get her to shut up."

Zarya could see the memories swirling in the archangel's eyes. She hadn't realized that her hand slowly tightened around his as he spoke.

"Cassia was a brutal ape," he continued. "Between her and their parents, the rage of the family was taken out on Daciana. Once, when they had traveled out of the country for some meeting, I told her to find a nearby cavern where I had hidden some things I stole from Heaven with Remiel. I knew there was a sword amongst everything that, with a little bit of her blood, would work only for her. I gave it to her as a gift to defend herself. She hid it for some time before Cassia found it. She held the sword against Daciana since she had yet to claim the blade with her blood.  
"Cain regularly checked on his daughters. He may have been a monster, but he always did it for the sake of his family. First his brother, then his daughters. He found Daciana with the blade to her neck and intervened. Cassia didn't believe him, even more fearful when he pulled the First Blade in Daciana's defense. He could see the marks of years worth of abuse hidden all over his younger daughter. Cassia pitched a fit and Daciana had enough. She grabbed the point of the blade with her bare hands, letting her blood drip down the silver.  
"The metal burned Cassia, making her drop the sword. Daciana reached for it, but the little ape kicked it out of her bleeding reach. She screamed for her father which made Cain laugh and tell her that man was not her father - he was. When their surrogate father ran in to aid Cassia," he shook his head. "It was a mess. Daciana finally had enough and ripped the First Blade from Cain's hand, aiming for her twin sister. She got a thick cut across Cassia's cheek before stabbing her adoptive father dead. Cain gave her her sword and told her to flee quickly. She asked if he really was her father." His brows furrowed. "Cain kissed her forehead and begged that she ran. She told him she was no coward, that she would make him proud. She stole the jewel of the family - Rem's Stone - and a ship before fleeing the country."

The three women were reeling. Adina and Runa were on the brink of tears, but Zarya's mind was moving at a million miles a second. Her hand had tightened greatly around Lucifer's but neither of them paid any mind. Quite frankly, though he'd never admit it, he liked the girl's warm hand. "How could a random family Cain found have had the stone if the Vasiles were supposed to guard it?"

Lucifer almost smirked. He really did like Zarya; she was focused on the information, not the family ties. She would form an opinion when she had all the facts. "It wasn't random. When Remiel fell she used the stone to help herself and Runa adapt before getting rid of it somewhere where she didn't even know where to find it. Saskia sought out the stone, but Cain found the family that had it. They couldn't use its true Power, but it was blessed enough to help a nameless family rise to power. They praised the stone like some cult."

Adina was shaking as she looked between the human and archangel. "Wh-what does any of this have to do with me…? Why did you find me?"

Zarya turned to her with empathy in her eyes. She still refused to let go of Lucifer's icy hand. "There's people hunting the Vasiles even to this day. They killed my parents and tried to kill me. If we can find and gather the remnants of the clan then united we can take them down. We can live without hiding in the shadows."

"No," she shook her head, standing to her feet abruptly. "I beg of you, child, please stop looking into the clan's secrets. When Nessa went digging into my disappearance I had to whisk her away into a life of darkness and blood before her own mother could kill her like she did to me. Whatever is hidden in the Vasile blood should stay buried. Knowing what we all now do is dangerous enough."

Zarya looked at the woman in disbelief. Her mind was reeling. Lucifer felt her squeeze a little tighter, anger bubbling within her. She stood suddenly, letting go of the fallen angel and causing him to disappear from Adina's eyes. "What does it matter then? There was a hit on my life when I wasn't even ten years old! I've been hunted for my birth so badly that I was lied to and compelled about who I am. Deighton is only my name because of the people who risked their lives to hide me. Before I even knew the Vasile name people wanted me dead. What does it matter what I know now? We're not alone in this world anymore, Adina. My father, Nikolas Maxwell, was from a town called Mystic Falls. I went there and I've never seen so many vampires in my life, including one Nova Vasile." She smiled softly.

"Nova…?" Adina breathed.

She nodded furiously, taking a step towards the woman. "Yes! And she's amazing! I didn't get a lot of time with her, but I did some digging. She was a warrior princess, she's engaged to a Salvatore vampire - a founding family of Mystic Falls. Nova is strong and beautiful and when I cross paths with her again I know she'll be on my side. We're going to find and fix the Vasile family and take down anyone who wants to hurt us."

"I know that name...she's a Cursed Twin. I was near Romania at the time of their birth and fled immediately when I heard. Her sister was given away as an infant."

Zarya grabbed her hands pleadingly, her eyes bright and hopeful. Adina could feel the warmth of the girl's hands. "What else do you know about Zina? Anything. Even if you want to stay hidden in no man's land up here I don't care; I'm finding the others before those hunting us do."

After a moment Adina sighed and squeezed the girl's hands. "Her name was Zina Vasile. Rumor had it she was adopted by a rogue vampire woman and raped young, bearing another Vasile woman. I think that was the breaking point for the poor girl and she decided to turn. She was rumored to have a tragic life start to finish. I don't know if she's still around or not though, but I assume she is not."

"That's all I need," Zarya smiled. "Should Nova come calling for you, I beg that you at least answer her. I don't know a lot about the woman, but I know she'll be our greatest ally in the long run. If I don't find Nessa first, I'm sure Nova will. Thank you, Adina. Really."

As Adina watched the girls go she couldn't help but feel the fear creeping up her spine. She had heard things about the vengeful Daciana Vasile who fled to America and supposedly died by wolves from her grandmother. The very grandmother who went by Cassia Vasile.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm so sorry! It's Thursday. I blatantly missed Tuesday. It hasn't been that wonderful of a week for me and I went on a little double date kind of thing with my hubby, his sister, and her hubby Tuesday night. This has been written for some time. I just suck. -shrug-

Unfortunately, I'm behind af now because I don't have chapter 5 or 39 of _Monster_ written at all LOL

I'd really like to finish chapter 39 for _Monster_ today buuutttt I'm not sure. I have the next few chapters of each planned out but now they must be written. Lucky me LOL

Stay tuned for my updates, I promise they're coming! And for more information about my updates, find and like my Facebook page!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan


	5. YouLoveMe for Everything YouHateMe for

05: You Love Me for Everything You Hate Me for.

Zarya's eyes were borderline bloodshot after nearly four hours straight of staring at her laptop screen and drinking a Monster. She had some time to herself with the bond starting to take its toll on both her and Lucifer; Runa had decided to walk around the small city they stopped in, checking out the shops and cafes. Zarya typed and wrote in a notebook furiously. She was growing closer to finding a link about Zina Vasile's lost daughter. With her nose practically touching her screen because her eyes had become that tired and dry the ravenette jumped when her burner phone's ringtone started to play loudly from the bottom of her bag. When she finally scrambled and grabbed it, she stared at the unknown number on her screen pensively.

 _Is this about to be it?_ She thought nervously. _Did you find me yet, Sammy? Should I expect to hear the Impala roaring up in the next five minutes?_

She decided to play her fate and pushed the answer button bravely. She took a deep breath and spoke first. "Did you boys find me yet?"

The line was quiet for a brief second before a woman's voice surprised her. "Actually," Nova purred, widening Zarya's tired eyes, "us _girls_ haven't yet, but I could if I really wanted to."

"N-Nova?" The young Vasile stuttered in disbelief. "How did you- are you driving?"

"Yeah, my car is pretty loud," she snickered. "I imagine you're quite used to the sound, spending the better portion of the last few years with Sam and Dean Winchester in their 1967 Impala."

Zarya steadied her breaths and took a large gulp of Monster to moisten her drying mouth. So Nova found out some things about her, big deal. _What if she was going after Sam and Dean though…?_ "Why are you calling me suddenly, Nova? How did you get this number?" She spun back towards her laptop, keeping her phone propped in her ear with her shoulder, and started to type to trace Nova's call.

"Sam Winchester isn't the only one who knows how to use technology and get wifi everywhere. You have yet to meet my best friend Lethia who knows you're trying to trace my call this very second so stop that."

Zarya jumped back from her laptop, shaky hand grasped back around her phone. "I know you're looking for the rest of the Vasiles too, Nova. I want to know what horrific secret or secrets have been swept under the rug. Why people - creatures - we don't even know have sought to kill us before we could even spell our names."

"I know exactly what you're trying to accomplish; I spoke to Adina recently at an old bar I used to frequent in New York. We have a common goal; Adina showed me that. It's the only reason that I'm calling you in particular. Silas is free and can get into anyone's head. Whether you've got the devil riding shotgun or not I doubt even that can stop Silas."

"You sound different than the last time we spoke."

"We shut our humanity off," came Lethia in the background.

Zarya blinked a few times and had to take another gulp of the Monster. "And who the fuck is Silas, and what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"A demon attacked Lethia," Nova began explaining. "Oh, I forgot to mention - Lethia is a wolf of the Kross pack eternally bound to me by a Moore clan's spell. Kross wolves and titanium don't mix. Angel blades are apparently made of titanium. Lethia is now a hybrid like her idiot boyfriend Niklaus whom I cannot stand with every fiber of my being." She heard Lethia laugh in the background. "Silas is a much longer story but for now only trust the Vasiles except for Saskia."

"I've been traveling with literally Saskia's mother who is going cafe to bakery to little trinket shop because her mind is beyond fried. I assume this whole humanity business has to do with why you're extra straight forward and rather bitchy today?"

Nova chuckled dryly. "You could say that, sure. Don't worry about my or our states of mind. I'm traveling with Lethia and Elena. We don't know Saskia's exact intentions yet but having the very first Cursed Twins with Cain as the father and then duping Silas for the immortality elixir puts her in a position of no trust. Do you actually still have Lucifer in your noggin or not?"

Zarya was hesitant to answer at first but did anyways. "Yeah, I do. But it doesn't do any of us a whole lot of good when he's still trapped in the Cage. He can only do so much before it starts to wear us both down."

"How do we break him out then?" came Elena's voice.

 _Doe eyes,_ Zarya realized. _You sound just like Nova now…_

"Are you actually serious?"

"We are," Nova answered. "We're going to murder Katherine Pierce for the cure to vampirism then our schedules are pretty freed up so why not add breaking the devil out of Hell to our resumes?"

She blinked again in surprise and started flipping back in her notebook to previous notes. "Uhm, alright then. As far as I've found out, since the Winchesters already went through the hoops the first time, the door to the Cage isn't supposed to be able to be opened again. But there's a spell a really powerful and old witch could do, or naturally there's a Vasile loophole. I guess I need Remiel's Stone and three family bracelets, one being my own. I read something about Zina's being extra useful being it can cut through the veil or something."

"Perfect, actually; I've got mine now and Zina's won't leave me be because the little wench is desperately trying to claw her way back from the Other Side. We'll track yours down. I'll call you when we've got everything."

Before Zarya could get out another word Nova hung up. She stared down at her phone completely speechless about what just happened.

* * *

"Your spell brought you to the source of the Blade's power. Me."

Dean and Crowley watched Cain pull back his sleeve and reveal the Mark forever embedded into his skin. Crowley shrank back and made the sign of the cross over his chest. The elder Winchester stared at him in disbelief. "Really? Now?"

"It's the bloody Mark of Cain!" Crowley argued.

"From Lucifer himself," Cain continued. "The mark and the blade work together. Without the mark, the blade is useless. It's just an old bone."

"A bone?"

"The jawbone of an animal." Dean answered, eyeing Cain. "The jawbone you used to kill Abel because he was God's favorite."

"Abel wasn't talking to God. He was talking to Lucifer. Lucifer was gonna make my brother into his pet. I couldn't bear to watch him be corrupted, so I offered a deal - Abel's soul in heaven for my soul in hell. Lucifer accepted... As long as I was the one who sent Abel to heaven. So, I killed him. Became a soldier of Hell - a knight."

"And Lucifer ordered you to make more."

"My knights and I, we did horrible things - for centuries. Bringers of chaos and darkness."

"Then you met Colette."

Cain laughed a little suddenly, nearly making Crowley flinch back again. "Contrary to popular belief Colette is actually my second wife."

"Bloody hell…" Crowley breathed, about to sign the cross again.

"We didn't have a formal ceremony, per se, but we were bound together and had two daughters together before I believed her to be dead."

"How do you only believe your wife is dead?" Dean questioned skeptically.

"It turns out the very first woman I gave my heart to was a nephilim, ironically enough. A very special nephilim with a bright target on her back. I knew it was my job to defend and protect her when my Mark burned itself into her arm without warning. I loved Colette dearly - she knew who I was... and what I was. She loved me unconditionally. She forgave me. She only asked for one thing."

"To stop," Crowley vocalized.

He nodded. "My first wife, my first touch of love, I will never forget. She didn't ask such a thing of me. She never dreamed to; we reveled in the thrill of the hunt together. I believed she had died because I didn't expect the Mark to revive her or that her survival instinct was so powerful that she would find a way to become immortal. I loved my sweet, innocent Colette dearly, but Saskia Vasile will always hold a darker portion of what may be left of my heart."

Crowley almost started to sputter and lose his breath. Another Vasile? One that bore _Cain_ two daughters? And still somehow survived and became _immortal_? The King of Hell wasn't sure how much more he could take.

"Why didn't you ever try to find her then if you found out she was still alive?" Dean asked.

"I truly wanted to," he admitted, "but we had both become monsters of a whole new breed. I aided my younger daughter in escaping the abusive family I had entrusted them both with and Saskia was on the hunt for ensuring her lineage's survival. It was her only goal. When she didn't go back for our daughters I knew where her mind was and it was dark. I continued on with my life; if she wanted a partner by her side again then she would find me as she did the first time. She never did. So I met Colette and she got me to stop killing. When the knights found out, they took retribution. They took Colette, and it was the first time in many years that I heard Saskia's voice again telling me to fight. So I picked the First Blade back up, and it felt so good to have it in my hands again. I slaughtered the Knights of Hell without a second thought. She knew I loved again, and I know she will as well."

Dean didn't particularly care for the way Cain looked at him when he spoke of Saskia Vasile loving again. If this was more Vasile mess then he had to find Zarya before the wrong person did. He had to protect her and Sammy. "Well, I'm sorry - truly. But I have to stop Abaddon. She escaped you before you could. So, where is the Blade?"

Shaking his head, Cain turned and started walking away. "No."

The green eyed Winchester chased after him, making the Knight face him again. "Hey! Listen, you son of a bitch. You may be done killing, but I'm not. I've still got people I need to watch after, to save before it's too late."

With a bored look on his face Cain grabbed Dean's hand grasping the demon knife and thrust it into his own chest. "You never give up on anything, do you?"

"Never."

He pulled the knife from his chest and shook his head again. "Well I do."

Just before Cain vanished, the sounds of the demons still remaining outside changed. He looked out the window with astonishment, watching intently at something. Crowley and Dean tried to see what it was he could see but found nothing. He told them not to look, but to listen. As a dreadful silence fell over the three men they could hear clearly as the demons screamed for mercy, a thick blade slashing through each of them one by one. Something changed in his eyes when he looked back to Dean.

"I can give you the mark, Dean, if it's what you truly want."

He blinked a couple of times. "What the hell, man? You in or out? I'm getting head spins. What are you talking about?"

"The mark can be transferred to someone who's worthy."

"You mean a killer like you?"

"Yes."

"Can I use it to kill that bitch?"

"Yes. But you have to know with the mark comes a great burden. Some would call it a great cost. An undying loyalty even when you don't want to because for a while you're not going to want to."

"Yeah, well, spare me the warning label. You had me at "kill the bitch"."

"Think for a moment here, Squirrel," Crowley spoke quickly. "That Mark is also on Saskia Vasile's arm and she gave Cain two cursed daughters because of it."

"Good luck, Dean," Cain ignored the King of Hell. "You're going to need it."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Let's dance."

Without warning, Cain grabbed Dean's forearm tightly. A line of fiery red veins spread from the Mark on Cain's arm leading onto Dean's arm. The elder Winchester grit his teeth as they singed their way onto his forearm until the Mark of Cain was burned into flesh. He let out a gasp once it finished transferring entirely onto his own arm. Just as it finished and they let go the front door was kicked in, cracking the wall it was flung into. Cain was the only one of them to not jump back, already anticipating who was standing in the doorway. A small, prideful smirk started to twitch at his lips.

They could see her womanly frame through the shadows she was hidden in, that demon blood dripped off of her like water and she dragged a large sword at her side. She paused at the entryway for a moment before stepping over the threshold, realizing she could. Her long, raven hair was drenched in blood, some strands sticking to her pale face. Crowley nearly transported himself out of the house when he met the blood soaked girl's cold, emerald eyes. Her boots left bloody and muddy marks on the hardwood floor. Her black pants and corset hugged her even tighter with the wetness. Dean and Crowley both saw the very clear rage on her face yet Cain seemed to pay no mind.

"Daciana," he greeted with pride in his tone and a small smirk on his face. "Boys, my second daughter; she now goes by the name Mikaelson for the family who took her in America and gave her eternal life as an Original vampire."

Crowley put a hand dramatically over his chest, nearly stumbling back. "Bloody hell, I think I might have a coronary…"

Daciana's lips pulled back into a violet sneer, veins appearing slowly beneath her darkening eyes. Her fangs extended over her bottom lip, emerald irises igniting a malefic garnet. "You abandon my mother, then me - _twice_! - and now the very Mark that bound you to our blood?!"

Cain playfully rolled his eyes and chose to ignore his daughter's tantrum upon realizing that's what it was. "Nothing can destroy the Blade, so I threw it to the bottom of the deepest ocean. It's the only way I could keep my promise to Colette. You find the blade, kill Abaddon, but make me a promise first. When I call you - and I will call - you come find me and use the Blade on me."

"Fuck Colette!" Daciana yelled, picking up her blade. "You want someone to take you out at last? I would love to do the honors since you're so willing to lay down all that you are now to some filthy hunter and mongrel demon."

She started to swing and Cain danced with her movements until he decided to full force grab the blade as it came swinging down with one hand. "Calm yourself, child. You know your sword doesn't affect me. Think rationally, _baht_."

She grit her teeth, face slowly returning to normal. Still she refused to drop her blade, allowing it to continue to cut Cain's hand and make him bleed without pain. "Nova Vasile linked our blood," she told him quickly and rather shakily. "With my mother's blood I believe. The last remnants of your wife before she found true immortality."

"Then perhaps it is time for you to find your mother, Daciana. You will be able to with Dean's help." He reached up and touched her cheek gently as she lowered her sword. "I never abandoned you, _baht_. Either of you. I never will. When you do find your mother, tell her I always loved her and that she should again too."

Before Daciana could speak or raise her sword again, she was flashed outside of the house with Dean and Crowley, the remaining demons and new factions arriving inside with Cain. She stood in her spot, facing her father's home, watching the blood splatter across the windows from the inside. She felt something heavy weighing on her chest, tears threatening to burn her eyes. She choked it all back and channeled it into anger instead of feeling like the weak human girl who's blood family abandoned her over and over. She grit her teeth and gripped her blade with both hands again, turning to swing it at Dean. She became a Mikaelson, abandoning those family ties.

She let out a soft gasp when her blade stopped suddenly. Dean had seen it coming; he could practically feel the tantrum arising inside of her. When the silver blade came hurling back towards him he reached beneath and grabbed just above the hilt and her hand, his fingers brushing over hers lightly. Her breath caught in her throat, body freezing where she stood. No one ever managed to block her sword (excluding Cain for obvious reasons), let alone in such a way, except her dearest brother Niklaus. Her heart nearly stopped for a moment.

Dean couldn't miss the glimmer of light reflecting in her emerald irises. He saw the same glimmer in Zarya's bluer green eyes often. The glimmer that reminded him that even after all she had seen, chosen, and been through in her life, Zarya was still a young woman who felt deeply and acted on those feelings. She sought the truth and knowledge, always being sure to get all the facts before rushing in, but once she had those facts what she decided to do was purely heart. Dean held the blade firmly, making sure not to let the silver blade touch his arm. "Good to meet ya, kid. I'm Dean. Who the hell are you?"

"Daciana Mikaelson-Vasile," she spat before attempting to cut him again. Dean knew exactly what she was going to do to try and free her sword. He countered it with great speed, knocking the sword away from them both. She stood before him with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape. He was just taller than her brother and therefore an extra couple of inches taller than her. He had eyes almost as green as her family's, but Dean Winchester was not her family. The Vasiles were not her family. "I grew tired of being beaten down by my twin sister Cassia and fled to America where I abandoned the Vasile name when I become an Original. Saskia Vasile may have birthed me, but I still walk thanks to the Mikaelson blood."

"Wonderful. And I've heard there's more of you 'Originals' or whatever. Do they have as miserable of attitudes as you do?"

Her eyes flicked to the Mark of Cain burnt into Dean's arm. She scowled, fangs threatening to poke through. "You will regret taking that Mark. It will make you kill in a way you couldn't have fathomed and bind you to my wretched mother. I bid you pity, Dean Winchester." With one final icy glare Daciana sped off, being sure to snatch her sword on the way.

* * *

It had been a few days since Zarya had heard from Nova and she laid on her motel bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about her Romanian ancestor. Her mind wandered to Runa Vasile, her travel companion that housed an archangel for hundreds upon hundreds of years and had a child whom she's just finding out is immortal and lost her mind. To find out your daughter gave you two granddaughters with the first Knight of Hell would probably fuck up anyone.

She let out a soft sigh, unable to sleep. How much did Sam and Dean know yet? Would they be searching for the First Blade in an attempt to kill Abaddon? _Were they also hoping it worked on Lucifer?_ She turned over onto her side, surprised to see her blue eyed archangel beside her. Sometimes she still had to remind herself it was never Nick.

Lucifer looked at her pensively. He always acted much differently with Zarya than anyone else, especially humans. "You should stop chasing this horrific fairy tale and go somewhere the Winchesters wouldn't dare. Or at least wouldn't stand a chance."

She smiled softly, thinking of Mystic Falls. Virginia's home of vampires, witches, wolves, and hybrids alike. "I'm not going to purposely put them in harm's way. I know they're looking for me and they will follow me to the ends of the Earth to ensure my safety. I could hide somewhere in Europe or a nice Polynesian island, but they would find me. I could seek refuge in Mystic Falls like the supernatural outcast I am, but Sam and Dean would cut through the town like they're just chopping down trees."

"So what are you planning to do about the bracelets and Remiel's Stone?"

"Having all three bracelets together puts them at risk for being stolen, but I guess Nova is on the hunt for mine because she has hers and Zina's. As far as Rem's Stone, I have reason to believe that Nova has it."

He quirked a brow curiously. "Oh yeah? And what makes you think that?"

"Zina Vasile was the last to have it in her position. Klaus Mikaelson killed her by ripping her heart out, taking the pendant she wore on her dress with it. That pendant was actually Rem's Stone. Her bracelet went missing after the mortician logged it as well but if Klaus was around then so weren't his siblings and Kol would have been more likely to take the bracelet."

"Klaus Mikaelson wouldn't give up Remiel's Stone. How could Nova had gotten it from him?"

"Apparently her long time best friend is his girlfriend."

He stared intently at her for a good while. It was one of those moments where he could almost feel the angel blood glimmering within her. It was easy to forget Zarya was still human, regardless of how human she technically was. She wasn't like the rest of the filthy, inbred, hairless apes. She radiated with a magnificent light, stronger, faster, and smarter than she should have been. She reminded him deeply of Remiel, perhaps if she didn't have her wings.

"I miss you," she spoke after a long silence. "Like, I actually _miss you_. The real, really annoying, you always over my shoulder."

"All this time and you're going to get sappy on me now?" He teased.

She sighed and flopped back onto her back, hair fanned out on the pillows beneath her. "Look at what my life has become. Honestly. I'm the last human heir to the Vasile bloodline. My human parents are dead. My human best friend is dead. Do you know how many times I almost died on hunts with Sam and Dean? How many times I wouldn't be alive if it was just me without them?"

"One hundred and forty two times."

Her head lolled over to look at him with surprise in her eyes. Why did he have to do stupid things like that? "My point exactly then. I'm scared, Lucifer. I'm the weakest link. I know Sam and Dean would go to the ends of the Earth to protect me and you'd smite the planet itself if necessary but they've got enough on their plate and there's only so much you can do from the Cage and it's my fault."

Silence fell between the two of them for a long few minutes before he spoke. "Stop blaming yourself, Rya," he told her quietly, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes widened but she kept her focus on the dingy white ceiling as well, just listening to him. "I heard every prayer, every cry, every curse to my Father. He did this to you when he turned his back on Remiel and I. You are not weak, Rya. Any other human would be long since dead but here you are surviving even better than your ancestors. My Father can't save any of you. He never intended to."

"But neither did you. You spent basically eons on lockdown with the sole determination when you got out to kill Michael and wipe out humanity."

He looked at her with a very serious yet unreadable expression. "Do you want the truth, Rya?"

She mirrored his face in an attempt to hide her wild heartbeat and racing thoughts. "You told me once you would never lie to me."

"I spent thousands of years in Hell hoping that no one laid their hands on Remiel's wings. I didn't know if she was alive or dead and knowing it was Michael's fault, what he was hunting her for, drove me mad. When Nick became my vessel and I saw your face in each and every single thought and memory, I saw Remiel again. She was my charge and I failed her. Being overwhelmed with how Nick felt about you and seeing Remiel in your face I couldn't fail you too."

"They say Remiel is still alive somewhere. Is there a way that we could test that theory…?"

"You could attempt to summon her back to her previous vessel like Castiel did with Michael. But there's no guarantee that she would listen or that Runa could hold her anymore. If anyone could it would have to be you, being her next closest descendant."

"Then why do my eyes look like the blue-green they do? I thought the Vasiles who descended closest to you and Remiel had dark eyes."

He shrugged. "It's gotten quite complicated I've noticed. The angel blood born into the Vasile line has watered down over the centuries. You are Remiel's closest _human_ descendant. If you had more of her blood in your branch then you would have had dark eyes but not have been able to be a vessel."

Zarya's gaze had turned back to the ceiling, lost deeply in her thoughts. Soon, she started thinking aloud. "If a human Vasile is strong enough to host Remiel," she spoke softly, "is that just for Remiel, or in general…?"

His eyes flicked to her for a moment. "I suppose it would be in general that a human Vasile would be strong enough to be an archangel's vessel."

"So if you had a willing vessel with Vasile blood, and an anchor straight to that vessel, could it be another loophole?"

* * *

"Bravo!" A disembodied voice greeted Sam and Dean. "Well done." Everything warped around them suddenly and they found themselves sitting on a couch with a strange man across from them, pouring himself a drink. "Sorry about all the theatricality. I just wanted to see what you two were made of."

"So, what? We're underground?" Dean questioned.

"No. No, my fortress is right where you were standing. But it's invisible."

The brothers exchanged glances before Sam spoke. "Then you must be Cuthbert Sinclair."

"Ugh. I haven't gone by that moniker in, oh...57 years now."

"Well, you're looking good for a guy pushing...90?" Dean chuckled dryly.

"Well, thanks, sport. There's a spell for damn near everything. I am impressed, though. You did exactly what you should've done. Though I am gonna miss those two from my zoo." He shrugged.

"Your zoo?" asked the younger brother.

"Oh, gentlemen, you are in the midst of the greatest collection of supernatural rarities and antiquities on the planet. I'm sorry. Did you say that you were Men of Letters? I thought that whole thing died out after '58."

"Well, we are - we are legacies. But actually, uh... We're hunters."

"Hunters? Wow! Hunters. With the key to the kingdom! The boys must be spinning in their graves. Damn snobs. Bunch of librarians, if you ask me. Although I was always fond of Henry. I was his mentor, you know? Yeah, till the squares gave me the boot. Yeah. 'Course, he came here to visit me, in secret. Called out to me, same as you did. Oh, yes. Quite the wild hair, your grandfather was."

"Listen, Magnus, uh…" Dean started, rubbing the back of his neck. "We got ourselves a little situation. Abaddon, the last Knight of Hell, is looking to up her pay grade and take over the place."

"Things never change, do they? I kept telling the boys over and over again - I would say, "we could stop all this. We could rid the world of monsters once and for all if we just put our minds to it", but, "oh, no," they said. "No, no, no. It's not our place. We're here to study. We're here to catalog."" Magnus rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, no, we get it. They're, uh...geeks. But she can be stopped. But we need something that we hear you have - the First Blade."

"Hmm. I see. Interesting. But if you'd really done your homework, you would know that it's absolutely useless, unless, of course, you're possessing the Mark-" Dean retracted his sleeve, revealing said Mark scorching on his arm. "...the Mark of Cain. Oh, my. How did you come by that?

"Listen," Sam interjected, "if Abaddon takes over, the one thing she wants more than anything is to make hell on earth. Not even you can escape that."

"And they say all hunters are morons. It's right there behind you, gentlemen."

They both turned and found the Blade in a case with light shining down upon it. Dean immediately turned back to Magnus "Listen, if you're serious about taking action, this - this is taking action. You loan us that Blade, and we will stop the bitch."

"Hmm. Let me think about it." He turned around and pinched some green powder from a tray on the end table. "All right, I've thought about it." He shrugged and blew the powder at Sam. " _Abi, ab oculis meis!_ "

When Sam vanished in smoke before his eyes, Dean's anger spiked. "What did you do with my brother?!"

"Don't worry. He's fine. But I did what any good collector would do - I separated the ordinary from the extraordinary. I had the First Blade. And now I have the Mark of Cain to complete the set."

"Yeah, well, problem is, it's attached. So how about you loan me the Blade and I take care of business?"

"Dean, I am offering you the moon here - to be part of the greatest collection of all time, to be young forever. Let me teach you my secrets. Hmm? Be my companion. I have to be honest with you, it has gotten lonely here over the years."

He made a face of disgust. "When you were saying any of that, did it feel at all creepy? Yeah. I'm just gonna grab the Blade and go."

"One little design flaw to the place - no windows, no doors." When Dean started to check his pockets for his gun, Magnus laughed, holding it up. "Ah. Cheap magician's trick on that one - picked your pocket. Nice gun. Welcome to the collection, Dean."

Dean grit his teeth, looking around the room for anything he could use to his advantage as Magnus walked over to the First Blade's case. "Oh, you're a really sorry piece of work. You know that? Holed up in here, doing nothing. You bitch about the Men of Letters. You're way worse."

Magnus gave a small shrug as he delicately held the First Blade in his hands. "Should we fire it up? What do you say?"

A solid black arrow flew through his chest out of nowhere, the fletching catching in his insides, preventing the arrow from flying out entirely. Magnus started to spit up blood, his body going numb. The clicking of heels started coming from down the dark hallway, a woman's voice echoing to them. "Your magic tricks are cheap and you should never have placed your filthy hands upon my husband's blade."

Dean's eyes came right off of Magnus and searched the dark hallway for the woman. Her husband's blade. _Saskia Vasile._ With Magnus incapacitated, Dean searched hastily for a weapon. His gun clattered to the floor beside the collector, being of no use to Dean. His breath caught in his throat, back against a wall, as Saskia came into view. She had a crossbow in her left hand, quiver full of onyx arrows on her back. With her right hand her slender fingers wrapped around the First Blade, still tightly in Magnus' hand, and ripped it away from him. She looked at him with immense disgust as he started to rot and bleed, holding her loaded bow point blank at his temple. Without hesitation she fired, that arrow going all the way through his skull, killing him instantly.

If Dean Winchester hadn't been to Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory and back and seen far scarier in his life his legs might have shaken when Saskia's gaze wafted over to him. She twirled the First Blade tauntingly in her right hand, her bow empty in her left hand. She noticed his eyes looking down at the gun on the floor and she kicked it away from both of them. When he started looking to a nearby machete she laughed a little. "You won't wrap your fingers around it before mine are around your throat or beating heart."

"Oh boy, I get options," he spat back, dripping with sarcasm.

She shrugged. "I have yet to decide what it is I want to do with you." Her cat-like emerald eyes looked him up and down, a smirk tugging at her dark lips. "So many options."

He found himself reminding himself a few extra times who the woman was behind her dazzling beauty. Her clothes were tight on her, heels giving her at least and extra six inches. Not a single black hair was out of place on her head, eyes taunting him playfully. But she was also an immortal. A vampire of sorts at that. She was once Cain's wife and turned her back on her own children for her own immortality. And she still had angel blood embedded within her, making her a hybrid. Looking in her dazzling eyes, there was no love. No kindness. Saskia Vasile was a monster. A monster who must be stopped.

Dean stood tall against her as she cornered him against the wall. Even with her heels she was just his height. She looked him up and down again, her eyes stopping briefly at the Mark of Cain on his arm. Slowly they made their way back to his green eyes. "When I died in childbirth," she purred in a quiet tone, forcing him to listen, "it severed my blood bond to Cain but the Mark served as a tie to our matrimony." Her right hand pulled back the sleeve on the arm holding her bow, revealing the Mark burned forever into her pale skin as well. A sinister smirk tugged at her lips as she slipped the First Blade into Dean's hand. "Think of me each time this Blade takes a life," she murmured against his lips. " _Husband."_

* * *

Before Lucifer could even attempt in taking her question seriously, Zarya was flooded with pain through her skull. Her hands flew to her head as she curled into a ball, letting out a cry of pain. Lucifer sat up abruptly and grabbed her, brushing her hair out of her face. "Something's happening," she panted through the cries of agony. "I can...I can hear someone."

He helped her up, although she still wouldn't let go of her head or open her eyes for too long. "Focus, Rya. It's going to be hard but focus. What is the person saying?"

She let out a small squeak of more pain before trying to keep her eyes open. Her pupils were dilating and constricting rapidly. "Lies...so many lies it hurts. He has an accent, kind of." She blinked her eyes furiously, her vision wafting between reality and the memories flooding into her head. "Brown eyes. Not black. He's...he's trying to convince me that the Deightons are my parents…" Tears started to break and cascade down her cheeks. "It's getting harder to hear him; there's more whispers all around...whispers I don't recognize…"

"It's Enochian," he realized grimly, watching her eyes change rapidly. "You're picking up angel chatter as the compulsion put on you crumbles. Your Vasile blood is getting stronger."

"Please make it stop," she sobbed. "It hurts...please…"

He reached up and grabbed her hands clutched tightly around her skull. "I can help, Rya, but it's going to hurt a lot more to start. I need you to just hold on and stay strong, okay?" She nodded furiously and he let out a small sigh. A light glow emitted beneath his hands and his eyes lit up scarlet. A second after, hers ignited magenta. He was thrust into everything she was being overwhelmed with, forcing her to let out another shriek of pain. Immediately he could feel that her blood was trying to branch out and find the other Vasiles.

The scene around them started to change as both were dragged into one of Zarya's true memories being released. They were in a hospital at the far end of the hall. Tears were running down little Zarya's face as she stared up at the man in a suit calmly compelling her. Everything she knew true and dear slowly vanished from her greener than blue eyes. When he was done he reached into his pocket and took out a handkerchief, gently wiping away her tears. She could see an 'E' engraved on his cufflinks and a crest on the handkerchief before everything started to crumble.

When she found herself back in her current reality Zarya flew to her laptop. As she typed quickly she wiped the tears off her face. "You were just about in deathly agony and now you're staring at that stupid screen again?" Lucifer chastised.

"My head still throbs," she answered numbly as she scoured the internet, "but I need answers. I have a lead on who compelled everything away now." After a few minutes she let out a frustrated noise and nearly threw her laptop.

Lucifer tugged her back against her chair and looked at her screen to see what she was looking up. He started to snicker until it turned into a laugh. "Rya, you've spent how long with the Winchesters and you still don't know your lore?"

She gave a small glare up at him. "Get to the point, Lucifer."

"I saw the same crest; it wasn't a snake. It was the Nordic Jörmungandr or Midgard Serpent/World Serpent with an M above it. Much more specific."

She turned back to her keyboard with hope until a thought struck her. "And how the fuck do you spell that?" He chuckled, shaking his head, and reached his arms around her to type it onto the computer himself. "The Mikaelson family…" She breathed.

"The Original family of vampires," Lucifer added. "Created by mother witch's spell. Looks like those runes there are their names."

"I at least know my Nordic runes," she muttered, clicking on the picture. "Mikael, Esther, Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Rebekah, Kol-" Her eyes widened, breath halting in her lungs as she nearly fell out of her chair. "Daciana…"

* * *

"Dean!" Sam shouted, running in armed with Crowley in tow. He stopped in his tracks when he made it to his brother, finding Dean no longer with Magnus. Magnus laid in a pool of blood on the floor. He held his breath, aiming his gun at the ravenette with her back to him. "You're her, aren't you? Saskia Vasile?"

She laughed cynically, turning around slowly. She was impressed when he didn't flinch as their eyes met. "Go ahead and shoot if it will make you feel better." She opened her arms out, still holding her empty bow. "I could even play dead and let you all walk out if you'd like." Her eyes darted playfully behind Sam. "Hello, Crowley." She snickered when he did flinch away. With her hands still held up she took a few steps away from Dean and tapped Magnus' head with her foot, shrugging. "This won't be the last you see of me regardless, fellas. This is only the beginning. I'll find you when I find Abaddon, don't worry your dashing little heads." She smirked.

"Wait," Sam called before she could vanish. She humored him. "What do you want with Abaddon? What do you even want at all?"

She let out another little laugh. "My long term plans don't involve Abaddon. While she can sometimes make herself useful, she should have been dead by my first husband's hand years ago."

"What do you mean by 'first' husband?"

She gave him a coy smile and turned back to the elder brother, briskly helping him stand straight and off the wall. He was still reeling from the First Blade. A splash of blood had splattered across his cheek; she used her finger to wipe it off, licking it off of her finger. "Covenants are tricky little things, as are magical bloodlines."

Dean's eyes found his little brother's and his whole life came flooding back to him. He was numb no more and whipped around, pointing the First Blade at Saskia's chest. "You're not walking out of here with or without answers, lady."

She smiled slyly and stepped into the Blade just as she had with Cain thousands of years prior. The bone sliced through her skin with ease, her dark blood dripping down her chest. "Go ahead and stab me with it; see if you enjoy it as much as Cain once did." When Dean froze before her, unable to stab her or even take the Blade back, she wrapped her free hand around his on the Blade and gently pushed it back to him. "And I'll have you know," she leaned closer and spoke against his lips, "I had no intent on 'walking' out of here, _husband_." She smirked before surprising them all by kissing him. "I've got some business matters to attend to." She gave Dean a wink before vanishing in a poof black smoke.

* * *

 **A/N:** I swear to Lucifer I'm alive! I've actually been writing quite a bit. I just really need to catch up on writing _Monster..._ Guilty! LOL  
I'm working on it though. I want to finish up season 9 of Supernatural for this and season 4 of Vampire Diaries for _Monster_ by the end of August.

Stay tuned!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

 **Translation;**

 _baht_ \- Hebrew - daughter


	6. Maybe You Shined a Little More Than Me

06: Maybe You Shined a Little More Than Me.

Zarya flopped onto the motel bed with a light bounce and smiled softly and contently. After another long day of driving with Runa in her ear and Lucifer in her head she finally had some peace again. For a brief second the thought of Nova flashed through her mind.

" _We got your bracelet,"_ _came Nova's voice boredly through the phone. "And I know who tried to off you as a child and only succeeded in killing your parents."_

 _Zarya sweatdropped a little at how brash Nova really was being. "So I was right then - I did see someone in the road. I was compelled to forget it all."_

" _Can't say that's surprising. According to buried hospital records you were rambling your fool head off about seeing a person, possibly a woman, in the middle of the road and some blue eyed angel that saved you for the first few days and then boom, perfectly normal with a whole new family and name. I don't know who compelled you but I know Katherine Pierce ran your parents' car off the road that night."_

 _Katherine Pierce,_ she thought pensively. With a sigh she turned onto her back and stared up at yet another dingy ceiling. _Safe to say it was Elijah Mikaelson to compel me by elimination and Katherine Pierce to put a hit on my family._

On top of that, Nova had found her bracelet. She already wanted to meet up which assumedly meant she also had Remiel's Stone. Zarya was beyond stressed, to say the least. She could really just use a strong drink. Her phone started to vibrate on the nightstand beside her and she heaved another sigh. By time she sat up and had her hand over the device the call was missed, the caller having hung up before she had even the chance to answer.

Zarya blinked with confusion and looked at the ID; it was a number she didn't recognize, not even Nova's. Her thumb hovered over the missed call, debating if she should call it back or not. It wasn't a blocked number. Would either of the Winchesters be so stupid as to call her without blocking their number? No, if they traced her phone they would have been on her tail already.

 _Maybe they aren't coming after me afterall…_ She thought with a hint of sorrow, still staring at the number.

Her finger moved quickly and redialed the number. She held her breath as she listened to each ring.

Some not terribly far way away, Dean sat at a bar and just set his phone face down. He gave a soft sigh before downing his shot of whiskey and flagging the bartender for another. As soon as the shot glass was set down in front of Dean, a slender woman's hand swiped it away. He looked up quickly with a cold glare, finding Saskia tipping back his shot.

She smirked down at him, being just barely a few inches taller because of her heels. "Unless Abaddon likes 10-cent wings, stale beer, and the clap, I doubt that she's here."

"Go to hell," he spat coldly before walking off to the pool table.

Saskia looked to the bar where he sat, finding his beer and phone still there. She wasn't going to mess with his phone, until it rang that was. She accepted the call from the unsaved number and smirked. "Dean Winchester's phone."

Zarya's eyes widened as far as they possibly could. She nearly choked on the breath she had long since held. Her heart started to pound wildly in her chest, adrenaline spiking through the roof. She wanted to speak but couldn't find her voice. She was about to hang up when the woman on the other end started to laugh.

"Oh, this _must_ be little Zarya then. My apologies, we haven't quite met yet; I'm your ancestor, Saskia Vasile. That is your name in case you haven't gotten the memo." She leaned against the bar, watching Dean rack the pool balls. "You know, kiddo, you might end up becoming the little human who just knew too much if you don't get your act together."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" She found her voice defensively.

Saskia's head tilted to the side as she watched the elder Winchester play such a meaningless game by himself. She found herself rubbing the Mark on her left arm as it started to ache. "And she finally speaks!"

Zarya grit her teeth, growing angry rapidly. "What do you want, Saskia? What are you doing with Dean's phone?"

"Maybe I ate him, maybe I slept with him. You're the one who flew off the handle and left them. How'd you even get his number if you've been trying to stay off the radar, hm?"

Zarya gave way to a small, triumphant smirk. " _Dean_ called _me_. I missed it by a second because he hung up before I could."

Saskia's emerald eyes widened a little, genuinely surprised. The entire call she hadn't taken her eyes off of Dean for one second. "You better hope you can free Lucifer if you can't find Remiel unless you're interested in turning before Michael and every other creature hunting us gets their hands on your simple little human head."

She couldn't help but scoff. "I'm sorry, did _you_ miss the memo? Michael's been going round for round with Lucifer for the last four years. I'm not afraid of Michael."

"You can feel safe all you like, child, but in the end you're still just a human girl. Without an angel riding shotgun in your fragile body any one of us can snap you in half with one hand. Even Dean is tired of it all - he took the Mark of Cain." Sensing Zarya's astonishment, she started to laugh. "Since the Winchesters look at you like you're some kind of family, does that mean we would technically be sisters in law?"

Saskia's laughter rang through the line until she ended the call. The phone slipped out of Zarya's hand as she remained frozen where she was on the bed. Before everything started to crumble around her, she remembered something.

* * *

[Flashback]

 _As the door to the hotel room closed, Zarya's eyes fluttered open. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," came Dean's voice beside her._

 _She sat up and rubbed her eyes, actually feeling the effects of having slept. "What did I miss?"_

" _Well we saw this at a witch's shop while we were out," Sam smiled, handing her a necklace. "It's fluorite - meant to protect the mind from tampering."_

 _She slipped it over her head and immediately felt the difference. She looked between the two and smiled. "Thank you boys, I appreciate it."_

 _Sam returned the smile. "It's nice not being the youngest who needs to be looked after all the time," he laughed a little._

" _Kind of like the little sister we never got," Dean smirked, cracking open a beer._

" _Even though you barely know me and I could derail at anytime?"_

 _Sam took her hand with a smile. "Family doesn't end with blood, Zarya."_

* * *

[Present]

Her eyes immediately lit up. She scrambled off the bed, nearly faceplanting onto the floor, and went for her backpack. Even when she stopped regularly wearing it she made sure it was always with her hunting gear. She wouldn't be vulnerable in the middle of a hunt. She dug through each of the pockets and hidden pockets until she found the little silver chain with the fluorite stone at the end. Zarya thumbed over the cool metal and stone, having a brief second thought, before slipping it over her head. She let out an exhale she didn't know she'd been holding when she felt the barrier in her mind go up. Lucifer could be pissed off later when he realized but at that moment she needed freedom.

She snatched up her jacket and got into her Cadillac, driving all around the small city for a good half hour. When she had enough she pulled up the GPS on her phone and found the nearest bar, allowing it to guide her there. She plopped down on a bar stool with immense relief, taking in the various scents of liquor. When the bartender asked her what she wanted, she bit her lip. "Do you do Sleepy Hollows?"

He laughed a little. "I don't usually get to; not a lot of folks around here like absinthe."

Zarya smiled a little and reached into her back pocket for cash when someone else's hand placed money down first. She jumped a little, cheeks turning pink. She hadn't intended on anyone paying for her drink. She started to look up shyly until she realized who it was, immediately paling when she saw familiar green eyes.

"Dean," she breathed, unable to pry her eyes away.

He gave a small smirk and sat down, looking at the bartender as he was halfway through making her drink. "She happens to be a weirdo who will drink absinthe straight if given a bottle." The bartender laughed a little and walked off to grab the rest of what he needed.

At last Zarya pulled her eyes away and looked at the floor like a child who just got busted for breaking a vase. "Are you here to drag me back kicking and screaming?"

Dean's eyes flicked to her for a second before looking away again. "At least I know it's you since you've got that crystal around your neck again."

She swore she saw him smile.

The bartender returned with her Sleepy Hollow and a shot of absinthe. He then slid Dean another beer and shot of whiskey before returning to the opposite end of the bar. The two of them remained quiet, neither touching their drinks. Dean started to laugh, causing her to look up at him. "Take your nasty ass shot of absinthe like the oddball you are with me."

Her hand started to reach for the shot glass but she stopped, looking at him skeptically. "Is this going to be some ploy to get me drunk or spike my drink and drag me back to the bunker…?"

He sighed softly and met her eyes. "Listen, you're hell of better company than the last Vasile who was here and wouldn't leave me the fuck alone. Please just drink with me, Zare."

Without looking away from him she grabbed her shot glass and smiled. "Alright."

He mirrored her smile and clanked his glass to hers, the two of them tipping back their shots. Though neither would openly admit it, it was their own way of calling a truce. To say how they missed each other.

* * *

[Flashback]

" _Is this really a good idea?" Sam whispered to his brother as they walked with Zarya into a bar. "After everything that's just happened to her?"_

 _Dean smiled and clapped his little brother on the shoulder. "The best thing for all the fuckery that has become of her life so quickly is alcohol. Trust me, she needs this." He turned to the skittish ravenette who remained by the exit. "What do you drink, Zare?"_

 _She had to do a double take, unsure at first if she was being spoken to. She was numb. Zarya looked to Dean with soft eyes, still taken back by the sudden nickname. Only Nick had ever given her the nickname 'Rya' which Lucifer then took. "Uhm…" she rubbed the back of her neck, eyes darting around the bar anxiously. "Absinthe," she shrugged._

 _The brothers stared at her and blinked. Dean chuckled a little, wrapping an arm supportively around her shoulders. "I know your mind is probably everywhere but here right now, but are you sure you mean absinthe?"_

 _She found focus in the conversation suddenly with Dean's disbelief. "I'm quite positive I meant absinthe."_

" _Alright, we'll see about that." He smirked and walked off to the bar to ordered her a shot of absinthe._

 _Sam laughed a little. "It's not too late to change your mind you know. You look more like a patron kind of girl to me." He shrugged._

 _Zarya frowned, looking up at him defiantly. "I'm not lying or wrong - absinthe is my liquor of choice. If I had the money from tips to drop at the end of the week then I'd splurge on a bottle of Redeux for myself but for my 21st birthday Nick bought me Nouvelle-Orleans Superieure and I chugged that bottle back like it was fucking water."_

 _Sam's eyes widened with surprise and Dean came back laughing. He tried to motion to his brother not to tease her because she was being serious but he wasn't paying attention. Zarya reached out to grab the shot glass and Dean yanked it back. "And you're not allowed a chaser either!" He added._

" _Oh for the love of…" she muttered before snatching the glass out of his hand. She tipped it back, flipping him off while she did so. Dean's jaw dropped while his little brother laughed hysterically. Without even making a face or wrinkling her nose she finished the shot and handed Dean the glass back. "Would you care to buy me another or keep your pie hole shut?" She smirked._

* * *

[Present]

Zarya's Sleepy Hollow was nearly at the end of her glass; Dean had two more beers on top of what he had before she arrived. Both of them were three shots deep of their own poisons. They had been talking about silly things on occasion when Zarya sighed lightly. "You...you called me earlier. And you hung up before I could answer."

"What makes you think it was me than?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

She laughed a little dryly and finished off her cocktail. "I called the number back and your girlfriend answered."

Dean scowled. "Saskia Vasile is _not_ my girlfriend."

She couldn't help but snicker some more. The alcohol was slowly getting to her. "Awh, but I heard you guys even have matching tattoos on your arms!"

He chose to roll his eyes and order them another couple of shots as he finished off his beer. "What was your limit before you would become even more obnoxious than your usual self?" He smirked down at her.

She shrugged. "After all I've dealt with and having been dealing with I can't say I remember or care. I'll probably make myself a new record since I don't even believe what's become of my life." She smiled sarcastically.

"So it'll be a surprise when you start getting mouthy," Dean laughed a little, sliding her another shot. The two clanked their glasses and tipped back their fourth shots. "Have you made any progress in finding your family?"

She bit her lip. "I have."

He chuckled dryly and started drinking another beer. "What's the catch then?"

"Well...it turns out all that's left is vampires and we all descend from a fifth archangel."

He stopped mid-motion with his beer glass to his lips. "You want to run that one by me again?"

For their fifth shot Zarya explained how she found Runa and Runa told her about the Angel of Hope, Remiel. Their sixth shot was her trip to New York and talking to Adina who'd been searching for her niece Nessa. Before they got into their seventh shot's conversation Zarya asked him if he _really_ wanted to know about Daciana and Saskia.

Dean laughed a little. "Is it something other than Saskia being a nephilim who had the very first Cursed Twins or whatever with Cain, one being Daciana Vasile?"

She frowned and punched him in the arm, making him laugh harder. They took back their seventh shots. "Okay, but do you know what became of Daciana Vasile?"

"Got me there."

"She stole Remiel's jewel from her adoptive cult like family Cain gave her away to and one of their ships. She sailed to America where she was found by the Mikaelsons who got hold of the spell for immortality and became the first Original vampires."

He choked a little on his beer. "Did you just try to tell me there's a whole other _breed_ of vampires that walk the Earth not descended from the Alpha we've already dealt with?"

"Yes I did! See why I really needed to drink? They're basically the same with some key differences but the Vasile vampires are a breed of _their_ own because they descend from Saskia who stole immortality from the very first immortal - Silas - who has apparently just woken for the cure for vampirism which apparently there is only one dose of."

"Well, you have officially fried my brain, Zare." She smiled softly at the nickname again. "How did you even find out any of this?"

Zarya let out a small sigh. "I've been talking to one of my vampire ancestors - Nova Vasile. I'm worried about her though because the vampire off of the Originals' line have this fail-safe or whatever where they can shut off their emotions and humanity on command. Like a light switch. But it's not that easy to turn it back on and Nova did it. She shut off her humanity."

She jumped a little when his warm hand grabbed hers comfortingly. "Whatever the world has become, Zare," he told her, "we'll fix it."

Zarya looked up at him with sorrow in her green blue eyes. "What if it can't? What if _I_ can't…? Dean, I'm a Vasile. It's in my blood too. I can feel the pull deep within me to find them, to join them…"

His expression became serious. "Have you thought about it - turning into one of them?"

"Nova asked me to consider it," she admitted. "With all that's going on, I'm the last human Vasile. My parents were the lasts to go."

"Wouldn't that be exactly what whoever is hunting the Vasiles would want? An entire line of vampires who aren't that difficult to kill that can never have children?"

After a moment she finally squeezed his hand back and looked up at him, starting to smile. "It's harder for vampires to get drunk anyways."

They grinned at one another and tipped back their eighth shots.

* * *

[Flashback]

 _Sam laughed a little to himself, seeing Dean and Zarya over his laptop screen. They were both ten shots deep and laughing hysterically because each of them thought themselves to be hilarious. His eyes flicked back to his screen when he heard his brother challenge the ravenette to pool. The hazel irises immediately flew back up to watch the scene play out._

 _Zarya grinned up at the older brother before she grabbed a pool cue. "I can play pool tripping on shrooms. Although it was rather challenging."_

 _Sam ended up slowly closing his laptop while he watched the duo go at one another. They were both clearly unbalanced and decided to sabotage each other by shoving each other around. Zarya had taken the lead by two balls and when she went for her third Dean blocked it. Sam almost thought the fiery ravenette would lose her cool but she started to laugh and call him names. She was sure to return the favor too by grabbing his ball right off the table before it could go into the pocket. Sam started laughing a little at the two, noticing the way the rest of the people in the bar did too. At one point Zarya started to laugh so hard she started to fall backwards. Before she entirely tripped overself and fell down, however, Dean caught her with ease no matter how drunk._

 _One of the waitresses passing by beamed, smiling at them. "You two are absolutely adorable! How long have you been together?"_

 _While Zarya and Dean froze and started to choke up, Sam nearly ducked entirely under the table to laugh. They both started to stutter about not being a couple, waving their hands furiously. Zarya's cheeks started to heat up a bright pink. They ended up pointing at each other while they laughed uncomfortably, telling her they were like siblings and the other is gross._

" _He chews so loud," Zarya said._

" _She snores," Dean told her at the same time._

 _The waitress couldn't help but laugh and winked at them both. "Maybe you two should get together."_

* * *

[Present]

"So ten shots makes you a cheater at pool," Dean smirked as he slid her another shot. "What's fifteen do for ya?"

Zarya laughed and took the shot with him. Her cheeks were starting to turn pink. "I don't exactly see pool in my favor tonight," she laughed.

He shrugged and stood, still smirking. "You can either play or sit there and marvel at my ass like Saskia did for almost a half hour."

She started to laugh loudly, bringing a smile to his face. "You loved every second of the attention," she teased him.

"I have literally never felt more violated in my life."

Her laughter stopped suddenly when her green blue irises locked onto someone. "Well that's a shame since your little lap-bitch sniffed out her master again."

Dean jumped nearly out of his skin and whirled around to find Saskia standing in the doorway of the bar, positively seething. His lips pulled back in a sneer, glaring at the elder ravenette. "Get lost, Saskia. I thought I told you that earlier."

Saskia slowly stalked her way forward, eyes cut in a nasty glare at Zarya. "What more fun could this little twerp possibly be when it's Lucifer keeping her afloat as we speak?"

Dean opened his mouth to defend her when Zarya stood to her feet, surprisingly straight. There was something deadly in her eyes. "I'm plenty fun. Especially when Lucifer is taking a nap. Or plotting, I couldn't really care less. And even fifteen shots deep I can still kick ass. Especially yours."

Saskia continued forward for the human girl with Dean just barely between them. The handful of people remaining in the bar watched with amusement. Saskia had a few inches on Zarya, especially with the heels she wore. "You could not even lay a finger on me," she scoffed. "Even if Lucifer was right by your side or using you as a vessel."

"At least my mom is watching me from the Other Side. Yours has been endlessly hoping you did something good with your life and now she's breaking down after finding out her daughter is a fucking lunatic."

Saskia's hand shot out past Dean to grab Zarya's throat. Zarya reached up and clamped her hand around the vampire-nephilim hybrid's wrist before she could make contact. "Dean, I ask that you move if you know what's good for you."

"It's not a good idea, Zare," he warned her. "Don't do it."

"It's just a bar fight," she smirked. "And I've been in plenty of bar fights."

* * *

Nova and Abaddon, who remained in Carina, just reached Kansas' border when Nova stopped at a motel. Abaddon made a face. "Why are we stopping here?"

"A girl's got to eat," Nova smirked, flashing her fangs. Before she stepped out of her car Abaddon smashed her head off of the wheel. Her head bounced back and the Romanian let out a groan of pain.

Abaddon shrugged. "I was hoping it wouldn't be so difficult with you since you shut off your humanity."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" She groaned.

Abaddon gave another smash, really making her head spin. She started fiddling through Nova's pockets before finding Zarya's family bracelet. She kept searching Nova when the Romanian started to laugh. That earned her another smash off the wheel, causing her to bleed from the nose and mouth. Yet Nova kept laughing. "Where is Remiel's treasure?!"

Nova spat a mouthful of blood at the demon inhabiting her relative. "If it's not on me then nobody will get it unless I turn my humanity back on." She grinned with her blood on her teeth and lips.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you can't find the stone on me then I know who took it and they aren't going to give it back unless I turn my humanity on. Which I have no intent on doing."

Abaddon snarled and hit Nova's head off of the wheel again. "Who has the stone? Tell me!" When the Romanian only laughed she earned another smash. "You shut your fucking humanity off. You shouldn't have an issue giving up who took the stone from you."

"Humanity on or off," Nova looked at her very seriously and darkly, "I will _never_ give names. I might not care but I am never a rat. Also," her irises started to bleed black, "you probably shouldn't have taken a Vasile as your meatsuit." Her hand sprung out and grabbed Abaddon's (Carina's) throat, forcing her to look Nova in the eye. Carina's eyes bled to black, matching Nova's. " _Get out of Carina Vasile."_

Black smoke came flying out of her mouth suddenly and out of the Firebird. Once it was all gone Carina flopped back against the seat unconscious. Nova used the back of her hand to wipe the blood from her mouth and grabbed Zarya's bracelet back from Carina. As the rest of her slowly healed she sent a quick message to Zarya about Abaddon trying to steal her bracelet. Scrolling through her missed messages, she found a photo of Lethia from her with Elena at the prom. She couldn't help but laugh a little.

Carina started to groan lightly, coming to. She grabbed her head and sat forward. "I feel like I haven't eaten in almost two weeks. I'm starving."

"Did you know you were possessed by a Knight of Hell?"

The younger Vasile's face scrunched up with disgust. "She got the jump on me. I was there the whole time; she made me watch. And I thought vampires could get sick and twisted." She shook her head and looked out the windows at the city around them. "You would have thought that using a vampire for a vessel and starving it would have weakened her."

Nova's brow quirked up. "How did Abaddon even find you though?"

"I've...been known to have interactions with demons. I have a couple of allies. I do what it takes to find Clara."

"Why demons though?"

"To be honest, aside from the couple of allies, I'm just helping Hell with its overpopulation of the things. Demon blood will give you that extra something like cocaine would do for you, although I assume it's not doing as much anymore."

She scoffed and crossed her arms, looking out the windshield. "What would give you that idea?"

Carina laughed mockingly at her. "You're incredibly obvious to anyone paying attention, Nova. With that switch flipped you're much less inconspicuous. You've got stashes anywhere you could possibly need them and I can literally see the remnants still on your nose. The scent of pot from the glovebox also caught my attention."

Something dark and distant danced in Nova's eyes. "Is it useful, though?" Her voice started off quiet. "Does it make you stronger than human blood does?"

"How do you think I've been able to endure Niklaus for so long? After he daggered Kol and left him in that box I did what I needed to in order to survive. Personally, I don't think demon blood is what you're looking for."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You recently drank the last remnants of Saskia's nephilim blood she was born with. Because of her, we each were born with watered down nephilim blood. You're just like her - part vampire, part angel. I suspect you can see angels' and demons' true faces and you have your own little glow now. That'll put you on heavenly radar. You've already drank half angel blood; your body will likely adapt easier to angel blood."

Nova looked over to Carina with a devious smirk. "How about we find us some angels and demons than?"

* * *

 _Abaddon decided to use Carina as a meatsuit and tried to take your bracelet from me.  
_ _Joke was on her, I apparently don't have Rem's Stone right now.  
_ _Calm yourself kid, I know who's got it. Working on how to get it back now.  
_ _-N_

With her free hand Zarya read the text quickly and slipped the device back into her pocket. "Now what would Abaddon want with my bracelet and Remiel's Stone?"

Saskia smirked. "She wanted them because I asked her to."

The human Vasile snarled as her ancestor's grip tightened around her windpipe. She dug her nails deep into Saskia's arm and swung her leg out, kicking Saskia's out from beneath her. "Why are you working with her?" She questioned just before Saskia came in for a punch. She caught the hybrid's hand and held it firmly. "What do you want my bracelet and the stone for?"

She chuckled darkly. "Same thing you do, little one."

Zarya reacted quickly and grabbed the latter ravenette with her free hand by the throat, pulling her in closer to talk quieter. "What the actual fuck could you possibly want with breaking Lucifer from the Cage?" She hissed dangerously.

Saskia laughed and rolled her eyes. "I don't wish to free him, you fool. I'll open the door and take whatever Hell has left for his grace."

She snarled and kicked Saskia back hard in the gut. "You're insane. It's never going to happen."

"Well doesn't your nosy little noodle want to know _why_ I want Lucifer's grace?"

" _What?_ " Dean exclaimed behind them both. "Alright, that's plenty enough. Cut the shit, both of you."

"I'm going to call Remiel out," Saskia spoke, ignoring him. "She'll come out of hiding for the child she helped bring into this world and I'll do what Michael never got the chance to for myself. What's left of her sweetheart's grace ought to adapt well to me so her wings don't incinerate me and give her incentive to finding me."

"Remiel's wings…?" Zarya breathed with horror in her eyes that shined a little greener. Her face contorted into a horrified disgust. "You're sick!" She yelled back, her eyes closed as the rage burned within her. When her eyes opened again they blazed a magnificent magenta, stopping the elder Vasile in her tracks. "To take an angel's wings is the most disgusting sin any creature could commit. You'll burn somewhere for even attempting it in the deepest pit of Hell if the Gods playing this sick game are just."

Saskia laughed. "What Gods are those, little one? Hm? Where were those Gods that watched your parents go over a bridge because of Katerina Petrova? If God, or any entity that considers themself a God, is left, alive, or real then why is the world so full of injustice? Killing must feel good to God too since he does it all the time."

As Zarya's rage burned on the magenta tuned into a vibrant emerald. One by one the bar started to clear out until it was just the three of them. Her fists clenched at her sides, eyes rising to the ceiling. She looked up at it, seeming to see through it to the sky. "I can't even begin to understand your plan, if you ever had one or if you're even listening. I'm not seeking penance for what I've done in my life, I never will either. But I might need forgiveness for what I'm going to be doing because of you."

"Zarya, no!" Dean shouted, lunging for the smaller ravenette. He caught sight of a large crack going through the center of her fluorite.

Saskia's face started to change, veins appearing beneath her darkening eyes as her fangs extended. She lunged at her human descendant without a second thought. The skinny girl ducked down and rushed right back, headbutting Saskia in the sternum and shoving her backwards into a wall. With her head bent the way it was she, too, could see that her fluorite was starting to crack and crumble. She gasped lightly, feeling Lucifer's rage catching up to her. She jumped back a bit from Saskia, eyes landing immediately on Dean. He saw, with horror in each of their eyes, as her irises flashed scarlet.

"Zarya!" He called to her again, rushing towards the two. He had to get her before Saskia could hurt her and possibly let Lucifer out.

Saskia let out a foul snarl and grabbed for Zarya again. The two started to tussle around, each having a hold on the other's head. As the sound of Saskia's neck snapping echoed through the building, the sound of Zarya's head bouncing off a table followed right behind her. Both women fell to the floor, Saskia temporarily dead and Zarya temporarily unconscious.

Dean rushed over to Zarya, checking the bleeding wound on her forehead. He lifted her up into his arms and rushed past Saskia's body on the floor before she could wake up, or Lucifer could in Zarya's head.

* * *

Sam entered the bunker just as Dean walked out of the kitchen with a couple of beers. He gave a half smile as he took one. "You already smell like you've been sitting at a bar drinking beer and whiskey all day."

Dean chuckled as he sipped his beer. "I did spend some time at a bar today."

He rolled his eyes playfully. "You were right."

"About what?"

"Finding Abaddon ASAP. She's mining souls to create an army."

The older brother groaned. "It's all starting to make sense now."

"What do you mean?"

"I not only ran into Saskia Vasile _twice_ today because she's got her creepy sights all over me, but someone else and got some answers."

"So what are you waiting for? Spill."

"Apparently Saskia wants Remiel's wings and she had Abaddon on board for her suicide mission."

"Alright...and how exactly did you come by this information?" Dean nodded for his brother to follow and the two started to walk quietly down the hall. Sam realized where they were headed and slowed his pace. "Dean, don't go in there."

"I swear it's fine, Sammy." He gave his brother a small and tired smile with his hand on the knob to Zarya's room in the bunker. They hadn't touched it since she vanished.

When the door opened Sam saw sigils all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. His hazel eyes widened with surprise when they landed on the ravenette in question, laying on her bed. She, however, was cuffed with angel weakening cuffs to the bed that Dean had found in the Men of Letters' things. "She showed up at the bar I was at," Dean told his brother softly, both of them still watching her intently. "We were just drinking and talking until Saskia showed up." He tugged Zarya's phone from his pocket and handed it to Sam. "Nova's a relative of hers and a vampire. Abaddon was in their other relative and tried to get some things they need to poke at Lucifer's Cage. They were supposed to meet at Stull Cemetery."

Sam's eyes were bug wide. "The Vasiles were trying to open the Cage?"

He shrugged. "When Zarya and/or Lucifer wake up, neither of them are going to be happy so we have to be prepared for the worst. Nova in Kansas isn't that threatening; she'll leave when she realizes Zarya isn't coming to meet if she knows what's good for her."

* * *

 **A/N:** A little treat for the night because I'm ridiculously ahead in this one LOL  
For real though, I'm already writing into season 10.

It's gonna get crazy.

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan


	7. But I'll Do What I Have to Do

07: But I'll Do What I Have to Do.

Zarya's eyes opened to find herself laying upside down on her bed in Pike Creek. She loathed more and more each time Lucifer dragged her back there. She left Pike Creek and that house behind her with the memories it all held. He was standing over her, visibly aggravated. She resisted the urge to sigh, knowing it would probably worsen whatever he was about to do to her.

"I really thought we were onto something, Rya," Lucifer started off dangerously calm. "And yet you still manage to screw up so now the Winchesters have you back."

She sighed _and_ rolled her eyes as she sat up with her back to him. "So terribly sorry I only proved your opinion on humanity because I got stressed and wanted to go drink. We're just going to have to play by ear now. That means earning their trust back."

"You're serious?" He scoffed. "You think I'm letting you back out there on your own? With those two thoughtless apes? No. It's not happening, Rya."

She jumped off the bed to her feet, looking up at him with a slowly burning wrath. "That's all we've got right now because there is no way in fuck that I am allowing you to parade around in my body. First thing you'll do is shred Sam and Dean with my hands."

"Well it's not something you're clearly capable of doing."

"You're right, it's not. Because I care about Sam and Dean; I do. And I already told you once that the only way I'm going out is by your hand. You kill Sam and Dean in my body and you'll have to come for me next anyways."

"And there's your problem, Rya. That simple, stupid, human affection. That's exactly why I can't trust you out there with those two. You won't be able to stay loyal to your true family and what you're meant to accomplish."

She let out a quick, dry laugh. "You think I enjoy being human? You think any of us do every single day? The last five years of my life have been nothing but straight hell; I lost what loved ones I thought I had, found out I'm not even who I think I am, the apocalypse, fucking Leviathans, alpha monsters, Original vampires, for fuck's fucking sake I have seen the inside of Purgatory. I have fought for my life. My life that I'm not even sure I want anymore. You claimed you could still hear me without us having opened that door; you should still be able to keep tabs on me if I shut it."

"It's not happening, Rya. I won't let you. You're just too human still."

"That is all I'm ever going to be! I don't want to be a vampire, I don't want wings and a halo, none of it. I've got more to will to survive as a human than any of my psychotic supernatural relatives. All our link does is hinder us both. You need to let me go and fight."

He stared at her a long while with an unreadable expression. "How do I know you won't just fall back into being a hunter with the Winchesters? Turn on me and the Vasile family?"

"Haven't you picked up on it by now? Don't; don't trust anyone."

When her eyes fluttered open for real she gasped. She could feel the everlasting shadow behind her having vanished. Zarya realized quickly that was was cuffed with angel handcuffs to her headboard. The room was painted in Enochian sigils. "Son of a…" She muttered, looking around her room and tugging at the cuffs, being human. "Sam!" She yelled as loudly as she possibly could. "Dean! Your prisoner is awake!"

 _Hopefully you two are still here?_ She thought, making a face. "I don't have a bobby pin on me!" She yelled some more. "Can't pick the lock and I've really gotta pee, boys! Morning pee is the worst!" Her door burst open suddenly, both brothers fighting through the doorway. She grinned up at them. "I really do have to pee if you could hurry this up. The liquor went right through me."

Dean hesitantly pulled a pair of keys from his pocket, eyeing her warily. "How do we know you're not just Lucifer playing Zare again?"

She threw her head back and groaned. "Because I'm going to pee my friggen pants? Look at my eyes and tell me if they're creepily blue. Just do it fast or I'm gonna pee my damn pants! It's not funny!"

Satisfied that her eyes were still mostly green, Dean unlocked the cuffs and the ravenette flew to her conjoined bathroom. Sam silently looked to his brother for an explanation he didn't have. The most Dean could do was text Cas, telling him to hurry up and get to the bunker. As soon as her bathroom door opened the angel was walking down the hall into her room.

"Cavalry's all here," Zarya muttered when all three men stared down at her for an explanation. She felt like a petulant runaway child whose family was about to scold her. "I assume we don't have to go through the entire drill? 'Cause I'd really rather not have holy water splashed in my face right now."

"Seriously contemplating putting you in a ring of holy fire though," Dean commented.

"Alright, alright," she held up her hands in defense, knowing the elder Winchester was running out of patience. "No need for holy fire. I swear to...well quite frankly I don't know who to swear to anymore but I swear I don't have a shotgun anymore. I shut the door. It's just me flailing and screaming like crazy up here." She tapped her temple. "Go ahead and check for yourself, Cas," she told him before sitting on her bed.

"It will be quite painful, Zarya," he reminded her.

"Yeah, well, can't exactly say I care to be cut with silver every time either but beggars can't be choosers," she offered a small smile.

Cas put a hand on her head and she grit her teeth as the pain started. It was bearable at first but Zarya knew he had to dig deeper, make sure Lucifer wasn't hiding somewhere. She could feel Castiel skimming through her noggin. She swore one of her teeth would crack from gritting them so tightly against the pain. When he was satisfied Cas let her go and all the pain was just gone. She blinked up at him with hope of a confirmation.

"Lucifer had been with her, but he is not anymore. The door between the two of them is closed."

They were all silent for a while. Zarya kept looking between the brothers, waiting for something. Anything. Her eyes landed on Dean for a final time before she found the courage to speak. "Go ahead and yell at me," she told him softly.

Dean opened his mouth like he was about to, the other three waiting for it. Instead, he shook his head and sighed. "You know honestly I'd love to, but it's not gonna do any good." Their eyes widened. "What you did was reckless and stupid, that's for damn sure. But if we knew you were at the end of your rope and going off to do whatever it took to find your family we wouldn't have been so nonchalant about it. Now we know about the Vasiles. They're top priority with Metatron and Abaddon."

Sam looked to his brother with surprise. By time he turned back to look at Zarya she was already off the bed. He could see the tears in her eyes. Zarya wrapped her arms around the elder brother's torso. For a moment she was glad she reminded Lucifer not to trust anyone. She wasn't even certain if she could trust herself anymore. She hadn't realized how much she missed the scent of blood, leather, and whiskey.

Dean smiled a little with his arms around the small ravenette. "Yeah, well, you better be in shape still because we do have a case to work."

* * *

Zarya frowned when she looked out the window of the Impala and realized they were in Sioux Falls. _Bobby,_ she thought mournfully. _You had such high hopes for me...I wonder, have I let you down now as well? Tell Nick and my parents that I'll fix this someday, somehow…_

"Do you remember Jody Mills?" Sam asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She gave a small, curt nod, keeping her eyes out the window. "Yeah. I figured that's why we're out here."

"You boys are a sight," Jody greeted them when they arrived at the station. "Zarya, sweetheart, you're looking well."

She smiled lightly up at the older woman. "Thanks, Jody. Good to see you again."

"So, what you got for us?" Dean questioned.

She turned around to the bed of her truck and dropped the hatch. Inside, a vamp's body laid next to its head. Zarya made a face when Sam pulled back the lip to check out the teeth. "Yeah, uh, that's a vamp, all right," he announced.

"I don't know, Sammy," Dean teased, "looks like Jody might not need our help anymore."

"Yeah, joke all you want," she rolled her eyes playfully. "But there's more where this one came from."

"More?" Zarya asked.

"My men brought in a runaway last night. There's no I.D. on her – nothing on her, actually, except for a bus ticket out of Nebraska. Total Jane Doe. She won't even give me her name. Girl's basically feral. She's got zero manners, didn't even thank me for saving her. Anyhow, this thing went to plenty of trouble to get at her. And to hear him tell it, the "others" will want her at least as bad as he did."

"Sounds like a nest," Sam rationalized.

"What if I talked to her?" the ravenette offered.

He made a face of uncertainty but his brother spoke first. "Let's give it a shot."

"Seriously?"

"Why not? All Zare's relatives are vampires. There's the two way so it's not like we won't know what's going on."

Jody blinked a few times with confusion. "I'm sorry, what?" She looked down to the ravenette with a very motherly face.

Dean quickly shoved Zarya off towards the interrogation room with the file. He knew they'd have to explain to Jody what they found out about Zarya. The ravenette sat down across from the girl and glanced at the name they found of her. "Annie Jones? Is that your name?"

"That's not my name," she spat back.

"That's fine, that's just what we were guessing it was. You want to tell me what your name is then? When I found out what my real name was it made me really mad to be called the other name."

She was taken back for a second. "What do you mean?"

"The vampires who raised you were born from the Alpha vampire's bloodline but thanks to a witch's magic there's a second breed of vampires - the Original vampires. When I was a kid a different kind of vampire, an Original, compelled my memories away from me."

"So you're no FBI agent either."

Zarya laughed a little. "I actually always hated playing an FBI agent the most. The pencil skirts and pant-suits," she made a sound of disgust and laughed again.

The two were quiet for a moment before the younger girl spoke, not making eye contact. "Alex. My name is Alex."

The ravenette smile softly. "I was compelled to believe my name was Zarya Deighton and my parents were Derek and Louise Deighton, but recently I found out my real name is Zarya Vasile." Alex let out a small gasp; she knew that name. "If you're willing to help me then I'll help you."

Alex started looking over Zarya scrutinizingly. Vasile? There was no way. "They're my family," she defended. "I fed them. My choice. My brothers – they brought me food when I was hungry. So when they struck out on a hunt, I fed them."

"Then why did you leave?"

She shrugged, avoiding eye contact again. "It was time...to move on and get out on my own."

"Understandable, but you have to realize - that nest has had you for years. Tasted your blood. They have your scent down cold just like the Vasiles now have mine. The vampires you call family already pursued you. You think when the rest of them find out that you left that they're just gonna shrug and cut their losses? It's basic vampire nature to hunt. I missed my meeting with one of my vampire relatives who flipped her switch and you ran from the nest that marked you. You help me, I help you."

Outside of the interrogation room Sam and Dean owed Jody an explanation. "We recently got an insight to Zarya's family," Dean started slowly.

"And by that he means literally the other night he got drunk at a bar with Zarya and she told him the gist of it so I'm still working out the details," Sam added with a small glare at his brother.

"Was Zarya on her own looking for her family?"

"She took off, yeah," Dean answered, looking at the ravenette through the window. "The important thing is that she's back now and we know who we're looking for."

"A family of vampires?"

"Apparently a different breed at that," Sam explained. "They were created about a thousand years ago with the Mikaelson family - the Original family of vampires. All of the Vasiles that still walk this Earth are vampires born of that bloodline. Including adoptive Daciana Mikaelson-Vasile. Daughter of Saskia Vasile and Cain."

Jody nearly choked on her coffee. "What, like, bible Cain? Cain and Abel Cain?"

"The very one."

"Just how far back does this family extend?"

"So far, back to a fifth archangel - Remiel, the Angel of Hope. There wasn't a whole lot I could find on her aside from her being the Angel of Hope and the one to guide souls to Heaven. There was also one rumor of her being a seer. Other than that, she was Lucifer's charge."

She looked at them disapprovingly. "It's back to Lucifer again?"

"It always will be," Dean spoke suddenly, still watching Zarya. "He'll keep coming back for Zare until we get rid of him for good."

Back in the room, a tear slipped from Alex's eye. "I can't," she whispered. "They can track me down and find me. I'll never rat them out."

Zarya smiled at the girl. She could relate, refusing to allow Nova or Lucifer to get caught either. "Alex, did you really, truly want to be on own away from your family?"

"I don't want them to die, but I did want my freedom."

"I'm afraid I can't promise that we won't have to act in defense, but I can promise you that I will keep you safe."

* * *

Jody led Alex and Zarya into her cabin and immediately noticed Alex's lack of amusement. "What? Too rustic for your taste? Well, I have a lot of great memories. Used to come up here all the time – first as a kid with my parents and then with my…" She stopped abruptly and cleared her throat. "Anyhow, it's a lot nicer than it looks from the outside. Oh, F.Y.I. – The woods around here – really easy to get lost in if you don't know your way around. Me – I know them like the back of my hand."

Alex rolled her eyes while Zarya smiled at all the pictures on the walls. "I got it. "Don't try running. You won't get far"." While the ravenette went to help Jody unload groceries in the kitchen, Alex took a crucifix off the wall. "You know this doesn't work, right? On vampires? It's useless."

"That's not why I have it," Jody responded simply.

She picked up one of Jody's photo frames. "This your family?"

"Yes."

"Where are they?" When Jody didn't answer, Alex finally got it. "Oh, dead."

"Alright, that's enough," Zarya exclaimed suddenly. "You have zero right to take whatever you've got going on on Jody. She's a sheriff whom Sam and Dean taught to protect herself and her town against monsters. She was just doing her job; both of them. Ditch the attitude."

Jody smiled at her. "It's fine, Zarya. Really." She pat her shoulder comfortingly. "Why don't you help me grab some firewood for the wood stove?"

They glanced over to Alex who rolled her eyes. "I know - don't run. Whatever."

"So," Jody started when she was outside with Zarya, "I heard you've found out about your family. How have you been since that, with what you know now?"

She sighed. "Honestly? I don't know. I'm beginning to think my hunt for what turned out to be the Vasiles was just to fill the void that Nick left in me."

The shorthaired woman smiled softly and mournfully. "The worst day of loving someone is the day that you lose them. Maybe it also has to do with why I was also told you 'took off'?"

Zarya bit her lip nervously; so they hadn't told Jody _why_ she took off. "I ah, I did a thing...a really stupid thing in hindsight. I opened the door that connects me to Lucifer. I let him in and took off in search of the Vasiles."

Jody sat her down on a stack of logs. "Why did you do that, sweetheart?"

She held her face in her hands for a moment before letting out another sigh. "Because Nick was his vessel and that's all I have left of Nick now. Nick is my only lifeline to everything in my life that was once normal even if it was compelled to be normal."

"Awh, Zarya," she soothed, putting an arm around the girl. "Kiddo you have been through so much in such a short time since the very beginning. Everyday has been something new. Quite frankly I'm surprised you've held it together as well as you have. I'm proud of what you've accomplished, Zarya. You're a strong woman."

"It really doesn't feel that way…"

"What you did was in the name of family. Sam and Dean have been through their own personal Hells for their family. They've gone through a lot both with and for you too. You've become part of the hunter family, Zarya. Part of Sam and Dean's family. Whether you went off on your own adventure or not you're home now and that's what matters." The ravenette smiled softly up at her. "Why don't you stay out here and enjoy the fresh air a little longer? I usually find myself out here when I'm feeling overwhelmed." She stood and started to walk back before turning around. "Oh, and if you're feeling really stressed, then check between those couple of birch logs over there." She smiled and winked before walking back with some wood.

Zarya decided to take her up on the offer and sat back on the pile of logs, staring up at the trees and sky. Out of curiosity she decided to see what Jody was talking about and checked around the small pile of birch logs. She laughed when she found a pack of cigarettes, hesitating before deciding to take one. The last time she remembered smoking a cigarette she was what she thought was 17 and Nick gave her hell for it. She was barely halfway through with the cigarette when her phone started to ring. Before she could even greet Dean he was talking.

"Zare? Are you alright?"

She arched a brow curiously. "I'm fine, what's going on, Dean?" She sat up, her guard going up.

"Listen to me. The vamps knew that Alex went to Sioux Falls, okay? They're probably already there. We're on our way there next. They've killed to track Alex and who helped her get around. Jody isn't answering."

Zarya's eyes widened and she heard a truck pull up around the front of the cabin. "Sounds like they just rolled up. I'm out back; I gotta get back in and help Jody."

"We're on our way, alright, Zare? Just hold them off. Be fuckin' careful."

"Careful Dean," she smiled a little, "your protectiveness is showing. I've got it until you guys here. I promise."

She slid her phone back into her back pocket and quickly put out the remnants of the cigarette, running around to the front and grabbing a hatchet on the way. She heard glass break, and yelling. Connor jumped back out of the upstairs window with Alex tightly in his grasp. As soon as he jumped down Zarya made for a swing and slashed his back, causing him to temporarily drop Alex. He recouped quick, another vamp rushing in to divert Zarya so Connor could grab Alex again.

Zarya's anger spiked watching Connor manhandle Alex and listening to her scream. She got a gash across the vamp's chest before he knocked the hatchet from her hands. She glanced back and saw Connor stuffing Alex into the truck the mama vamp was driving. Her irises ignited magenta suddenly and she grabbed the vampire from behind by the jaw. Without hesitation she gave a swift twist, ripping his head off of his shoulders. Everyone watched with their own kind of horror haunting their eyes; Jody had been in the doorway.

Mama stomped hard on the gas, desperately trying to flee while they had Alex. She saw Zarya sprinting full speed at the vehicle in the rear view mirror. The ravenette managed to get close enough, ignoring Jody's protests, and jumped for the tailgate. Mama got mad and tried to shake her off.

"Stop it!" Alex protested. "Mama, stop! Please! She's a Vasile!"

She slammed the brakes suddenly which sent Zarya flying forward. She hit her head on the metal cab hard enough to knock her out cold. When they were satisfied that she wasn't putting up anymore of a fight, they drove off with both Alex and Zarya in the truck.

By time Sam and Dean arrived to Jody's cabin it was far too late. Jody was nursing a nasty bruise on her head that had finally stopped bleeding. "Are you alright? Where are the girls?" Sam asked with concern in his voice.

"Where the hell is Zare?" came Dean.

"One of Alex's brothers busted in the upstairs window to grab her," she explained. "Another kept me from going upstairs for her. Zarya had been out back grabbing firewood for me and ran out front with the hatchet. She was amazing, honestly. But then he disarmed her and Connor was making off with Alex."

"It's okay, Jody," Sam assured her. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Sam. Her eyes turned this pinkish color...like, magenta? And with her bare hands I watched her tear the vamp's head off his neck before sprinting after the truck."

Dean rubbed his mouth and chin. Sam was baffled. "How the hell could Zarya have had such strength? A-and magenta eyes?"

"Doesn't matter," came his brother's reply. "We've got to go to the nest and take them out."

"Okay, I'm coming." Jody told them firmly.

"Jody, we can handle the nest on our own," Sam tried to tell her.

"I don't give a fig about the nest. That girl was under my protection."

"Okay, that "girl" can't be trusted." Dean told her brashly. "She's a lure. She's a-a honey trap. She's been feeding people to those vamps!"

"I don't care. Whatever she did, she did because they made her."

"Oh, and that's a reason?"

"She's a kid! All she's known are those vamps just like all Zarya's known is Nick. They'd bond, if given the chance, because Zarya understands what it's like to lose everything you knew and cling to whatever comes through to give her hope. I'm coming. And if either one of you lays so much as a hand on Alex...You'll have to go through me."

* * *

"It's my fault," Zarya heard Mama say as she came to.

"What?" Alex asked her in return.

"All of it. This is my fault. I should've turned you years ago."

 _Oh fuck,_ she mentally groaned as her eyes opened and head lifted. She resisted the urge to make a face when Mama smiled at her.

"Forgive me, child, I didn't realize you were a Vasile."

She groaned and forced her eyes to focus. She was lying on a bed, unrestrained. _Good God, I just told Lucifer not to trust anyone,_ she thought. _Absolutely should have tied up these hands, lady._

"What's that got to do with anything?" She questioned, finding her throat dry.

"I had another daughter for a little while," Mama told her. "A Vasile girl a few years ago. She was sweet as pie and a natural hunter. Had us stocked up on blood for months at a time."

"Was she a vampire too?"

Mama laughed. "Of course she was, child. She was a very special kind of vampire, unlike us. Stunningly beautiful and the most magnificent creature I'd ever laid my eyes upon. She inspired Alex to be a better daughter. They both wanted to make me happy."

"How'd you end up with her? Where'd she come from?"

"She was tired of being with the vampire who adopted her originally. So she became my daughter."

Downstairs, Sam, Dean, and Jody infiltrated with machetes at the ready. "Truck's in the driveway," Jody commented quietly.

"So we're walking right into it," Sam confirmed.

"Well," Dean looked up the stairs, a second machete in his hand, "we've faced worse odds. This is a raid, so tread lightly, stay close. Priority is clearing the nest. Alex comes second. You got it?"

She was visibly annoyed. "Yeah."

"What about Zarya?" Sam questioned.

His brother held up the second blade in his hand, the one with the bloodstained serrated edge and thick black handle and 'Z' burned into it. "She knows the mission. She just needs her weapon."

Zarya sat up on the bed slowly. Her green-blue eyes were filled with curiosity. "She was young then, wasn't she?"

Mama nodded. "She was a teeny little thing, like Alex. They shared clothes, it was adorable. She was the entire reason why I never turned Alex; she was resentful her adoptive guardian had turned her. I didn't want Alex to resent me but now her human emotions are getting to be too much. It ain't too late. I can take the pain away. And then we can stay together, as a family. Like none of this ever happened. Wouldn't you like that?"

Zarya looked over and found Alex staring at her vamp mother with watery eyes filled with sorrowful hope. She looked to the window; boarded up, naturally. "You must feel the same," Mama's voice broke her from her thoughts of escape. "Human emotions can be so overwhelming." She walked over to an old jewelry box and took out a small vial, showing it to Zarya. "This is my little Vasile's blood. I know it's what you'd need to turn since the Vasiles are from different blood. You drink and die to turn while I turn Alex and we can all be a family."

While Sam and Dean were fighting off Connor and another vamp, Jody snuck her way through the shadows to the basement stairs where she heard groaning. She slipped down hastily and found Alex with blood on her mouth. "What did they do to you?" She murmured, pushing some of the girl's hair out of her face.

"She chose me."

Jody spun around and found Mama standing behind her with Zarya by her thick hair. Her heart dropped when she saw blood dripping from the ravenette's mouth as well. With her free hand Mama knocked Jody down hard, hitting her head and making it bleed. Upstairs, Connor had gotten Sam strapped down on a table, draining his blood from his arms. Dean laid barely conscious on the floor and one of the other vamps gave him a harsh kick to the ribs. He made the mistake of leaning down to grab Dean who seized to opportunity to stab him with a needle of dead man's blood. He jumped to his feet and snatched up Zarya's machete off the floor.

"Please, Mama," Alex pleaded. "Let her go. I already drank from you. Let her go."

Mama looked down at Jody with disgust. "Made an impression on my girl, I see. Baby, this is the human half of you talking. After the change, this human – she ain't nothing to you. Clearly, Sheriff, you got issues, some hole in your life you're using my Alex to fill. I would say go and get a family of your own, but, well...you know."

"Wow," Jody groaned, wiping the blood from her nose. "That's pretty rich coming from the woman who stole Alex to begin with."

"I have fed her, clothed her, loved her going on nine years. You think motherhood's just about blood? You don't know the first thing about it. I already let a Vasile slip away when she wanted to be a part of my family. I'm not letting it happen again." She put her hands firmly on Zarya's head, causing her to start to really squirm and panic.

"Jody, please," she begged hoarsely. "I don't want this!"

She tried to force herself up but Mama stomped down hard on her knee. Zarya winced when she heard Jody's pained scream. Her heart started to pound with sheer panic in her chest. She didn't want to be a vampire of any kind. She didn't want the option to turn off her humanity. She didn't want to be a monster. With tears running down her face she let out a horrific cry of the only person she thought could hear her.

" _Dean!"_

Connor got the upper hand and pushed Dean against a wall with Sam's machete to his throat. Zarya's cry of pure terror rang through the house from the basement and his face immediately changed. There was nothing but rage. He flipped them around with Connor beneath Zarya's blade. "Look at me!" He yelled at the vamp. "Look at me, bitch!" Connor turned to snarl in his face but as soon as he did Dean pushed the blade through his throat and let him drop to the floor. When he turned to Sam they were both confused by him already sitting up and being released.

Mama was petting Zarya's hair, her hands still firmly on the girl's head. She marveled at how soft Zarya's dark locks were even for being a hunter. "You'll be so much better a vampire, darlin'. Free from those pesky human emotions."

"Please," Zarya sobbed. "I don't want this. I don't want to turn."

Behind them, Jody tried to sit up again. Alex put a finger to her lips, reaching slowly for a syringe of dead man's blood. Heels started clicking down the stairs which took all four women by surprise. Alex snatched the syringe and hid it behind her back, nearly dropping it when she recognized the vampire to walk down the stairs. She thought the woman was only a myth.

"She told you she does not want to turn," Daciana Mikaelson told Mama in a dark and bored tone as she emerged slowly from the shadows, her face changing. "You never force someone to take this life. Especially a Vasile." Her sword glinted in the dim light briefly before it took Mama's head clean off, freeing Zarya from her grasp.

"'Look at me, bitch'?" Sam half teased but genuinely questioned his brother.

Dean shrugged. "Well, hey, you got another snappy one-liner, I'm all ears."

"What I'm saying is – it looked to me like you were enjoying it. Maybe too much."

"And? Well, sorry for not putting on a hair shirt. Killing things that need killing is kind of our job. Last I checked, taking pleasure in that is not a crime. Why the hell did Daciana try to be a hero today?"

"I don't know. She snuck in, told me to shut the fuck up - not like I was capable of doing much, freed me, gave me some of her blood so I didn't bleed out, and took off downstairs. How do you think she knew we were here?"

Dean shrugged. "Mama vamp was planning to do more than turn just Alex."

"We could have cured Zarya too, though. I thought she was fine."

"She is, but only because Mama had a stash of another Vasile's blood. If Zare dies before that blood is passed through her system, or Daciana's in yours, then she'll turn. And we don't know how to cure vamps on that bloodline, Sammy."

"I knew Zarya did not want to turn."

Both brothers jumped practically out of their skin, whipping around and finding Daciana sitting on the hood of the Impala casually. "You are one creepy bitch," Dean muttered.

She smiled a little, looking past them. "Zarya doesn't ever wish to be one of us and I can't say I blame her. It will always be her choice should she want to or choose to in a time of need."

"Why did you show up here though?" Sam asked her. "How did you know where to find us?"

"I didn't. I was having issues with my siblings and took off like the drama queen I am. I wandered until I felt a great pain and fear deep in my chest. I could tell it was her it was so...human. She didn't want to die, but she really didn't want to turn."

"Well it's a good thing you showed up when you did then," Jody complimented her.

"How's things back at the station?" Dean asked.

"Well, they beat Frank up pretty bad, but at least they left him alive. He kept apologizing for spilling the beans about the cabin, but I told him that one's on me."

Sam turned back to Daciana, wanting to ask her something. He couldn't say he was terribly surprised to find her gone again.

* * *

Out back of Jody's cabin Zarya decided to relight the cigarette she had ditched earlier. When she finished it she stole a second. Halfway through that one and she nearly jumped out of her skin finding Daciana having appeared beside her. "You have really got to stop doing that. You're getting to be worse than Cas." She teased.

"How are you feeling?" The elder Vasile asked without warning.

She shrugged and took a long drag on the cigarette. "I've certainly got to make sure I don't die at any point in the next 18 hours or so."

"Do you know how this branch of vampire got their hands on Vasile blood? Whose it was perhaps?"

She shook her head. "It was a girl the mama had taken in; a girl young enough to share clothes with Alex. She resented the vampire who took her in for turning her against her will."

Daciana was silent a moment, her expression hard. "It must be Zina's rumored child. They didn't give a name?"

Zarya shook her head again. "No. And then she forced the blood down my throat. I was hoping to swipe it for a locator spell or something. Anything."

"There are spells that can work while the blood is fresh within you. We all do share a bloodline afterall."

"I'm not trying to screw with magic like that. I know spells like that don't come cheap. Staying with the Winchesters I've got to limit my existential fuck ups." She laughed a little. "Besides, they'd never let me go off to Mystic Falls or wherever after all that I've already done. I can't say I blame them."

Daciana heard the footsteps nearing first for obvious reasons. She could even tell that they were Dean's. She quickly swiped the cigarette from her descendant's fingers and puffed it on it, giving her a wink. No sense in getting her in more trouble.

"We're taking off, Zare," he told her. "Alex wanted to see you before we left."

Daciana smiled at her before taking another drag. "We'll catch up, kid. You can find me if you really need to." In a flash she was gone.

Dean walked Zarya back around front where Alex was waiting for her. "Thank you," she told the ravenette. "For everything alongside Jody and the Winchesters."

"Don't worry about it, Alex. What you went through in the last two days alone, well, no one could really understand that."

Alex hugged her suddenly. "You and Jody can," she told Zarya quietly in her ear. "I wanted to repay you with something, so I remembered the girl's name - it was Katia Vasile."


	8. We're Still Murdering So Thanks for Aski

**A/N:** I'm on a roll today, guys! Got another update for _Monster_ coming after this.

Follow/favorite/review/find me on Facebook!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

08: We're Still Murdering So Thanks for Asking.

"This is the address?" Dean questioned when they pulled up to the Central Municipal Power Corp.

"Yeah," Sam confirmed. They were about to knock when the door opened.

"If you'll follow me, the Commander will see you now," an angel told them.

Zarya couldn't help but snicker as they walked down the hall. "Commander?"

The three were led into Castiel's command center, a large room equipped with state of the art spy and tracking devices, plenty of computers, and angels. They marveled with some impression. "Sir," Benjamin greeted Castiel. He immediately turned to the trio and hugged each of them respectively.

"Um, dismissed," he told Benjamin awkwardly. When the latter angel was gone, Cas turned back to them. "He can be a little stuffy."

"So… Commander?" Dean half teased.

"Yeah, not my idea. They had no leader, and they insisted on following me."

Zarya laughed a little. "No, we get it Cas; you're a rock star."

"Bartholomew is dead. Malachi was murdered by Gadreel, and with Metatron as powerful as he is now, I needed to do something. On top of it all, there's new violence against angels that doesn't seem to be even Metatron."

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned.

Cas grabbed a file from a desk and showed them about a dozen different angels horribly mutilated. "They were all exsanguinated and left to rot, their throats torn maliciously. Someone has to say "enough". We have a prisoner. It's an angel from Metatron's inner circle. I need to know what they're planning, but so far, he's revealed nothing."

"So, you're done with the rough stuff, and you want us to be your goons?" Dean asked. Zarya couldn't tear her eyes away from the photos.

"Have you come across anything like this against other creatures?" She spoke suddenly, eyes still captivated on the pictures.

The three men exchanged questioning looks. Cas stuttered a moment. "Um, there have been a handful of demons found in a similar way and plenty having not reported in in some time. Some angels believe they did it themselves or that it's a ploy from Metatron but it just doesn't sit right with me."

"It shouldn't," Dean told him confidently. "You're getting good hunter's instincts, Cas."

Zarya hesitated, biting on her thumbnail nervously. She didn't want to put Nova on the Winchesters' radar, but they had their own issues with angels. She couldn't afford for Nova to be shredding them. "It's Nova," she admitted quietly, _still_ staring at the photos. "I'd found some cold cases that would have led straight to her if the human authorities knew where to look. The throat shredding is her gimmick."

"You mean Nova Vasile?" A shy angel asked suddenly over her desk. "I-I had heard of the legendary Vasile clan and that Saskia Vasile was rumored to entrance you and whisk your soul away more violently than any siren in her icy sea."

"That's descriptive," the elder Winchester commented quietly.

She turned her computer monitor around to show them a headline in Mystic Falls, Virginia; they had two corpses in their morgue currently. One was shredded like the other angels, and one was frozen to the bone. Someone had leaked photos and the shredded victim was dressed similarly to an angel.

"I can take Sam to Mystic Falls and investigate this if you two can get information out of Ezra."

"Deal," Zarya accepted before either of the brothers could suggest anything else. She could trust Sam and Cas in Mystic Falls; they wouldn't jump into anything. Slay anyone unnecessary. Why was Nova slashing angels?

* * *

"This hospital is filled with humans and supernatural alike," Cas muttered as he and Sam walked the halls of Mystic Falls General.

"This whole town is, Cas. We should be able to slip by everybody but I heard something about the sheriff hanging around and working on the cases. Nurse said the extra unusual two dead bodies are back here."

They came to a door at the end of a hall and Sam put his hand on the knob. Just as he turned it, Cas heard people talking inside. Before he could warn Sam, the door was opened. They stared back at two males and a female who was clearly the sheriff in question. Castiel could tell just enough that the two men were vampires. They had both seen the males' faces before; Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Turned in 1864. Sam reached up and pat his blazer pocket, making sure his fake FBI credentials were still there.

"Special Agent Augeri." He announced, flipping open the ID. "And this is my partner, Special Agent Barrett."

Liz immediately stepped forward with her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm Sheriff Forbes of this town and I didn't call any feds for this case."

Damon stepped up beside her, eyes looking scrutinizingly at them both. Cas staring at him strangely while Sam tried to ignore the urge for a fight. "Because they're not feds," he accused confidently. "Mind if I check out your ID again, Special Agent?" He smirked and held his hand out.

"Okay fine, we're not. My name is Sam Winchester. This is Castiel." He looked less than thrilled to share the information.

"Does Castiel have a last name?" Liz quipped, half joking.

"I'm an angel of the Lord, so I don't suppose I would," Castiel answered.

Damon took another step towards them. Stefan came up beside him, grabbing his upper arm. "What do a Winchester and an angel want in Mystic Falls with this case?" He practically demanded.

"We're friends of Zarya Deighton-Vasile," Sam answered boldly. "I'm a hunter. This falls in what we're hunting."

"And what would that even be? Zarya's not in town anymore. Go figure she'd lead hunters around here."

Sam was really trying to keep his cool knowing Damon and Stefan were both vampires. "We know she's not here. My brother found her. We've been helping her search for the truth about her family. What happened here has made its way to us too. It's a lot bigger than you seem to think."

"How much bigger?" questioned Liz. "How many bodies and how far out?"

"Dozens. Up and down the eastern seaboard and spanning outwards towards Colorado and Indiana. Some human, some angel; some look like that," he pointed to the left corpse, "and others like that," and to the right. "Even some demons."

Castiel walked past them to view the body on the left. His face grimaced. "His soul was sucked so violently from his body that it froze him to death. It was done slowly, carefully, and painfully." Liz put a hand over her mouth as the angel inspected the second victim. "This was an angel," he looked up to Sam. "His name was Araton. An amazing leader. He sought peace on Earth after the Great Fall."

"Nova's… feeding on angels?" Damon muttered in a sorrowful disbelief.

"What could have sucked out that guy's soul though?" Stefan questioned.

Damon still stood, frozen and staring at Nova's angel victim, as Castiel answered. "Saskia Vasile."

The lights went out all across the hospital suddenly. Nova was still in town. But so was Saskia and Silas. They had to find Nova and Bonnie before Saskia and Silas did.

* * *

"There's no use torturing me," Ezra told Dean and Zarya when they entered the interrogation room. "I am a trained commando. It won't work."

"Wow," Dean smirked. "Well now you just asked me to dance."

Zarya leaned against the door and found herself mildly captivated watching him hit Ezra a few times. The angel started to bleed from his nose and mouth. She became aware of herself again, and both forgot and ignored the heat she was starting to feel. "Dean," she called to him, putting a hand gently on his arm and getting him to look at her. "He won't be telling us anything dead. Besides, you know, I'm - I'm really starting to realize that he probably doesn't know anything. He was probably just pretending at the bar. Most likely, he's a nobody. I mean, do the math. Ezra here is one of Metatron's elite posse? Really? One of Metatron's most trusted is, uh - is hanging out at bars, blabbing about the boss. Does that make any sense?"

Dean looked down at her and how close she was, realizing what she was doing. It was a game they had played interrogating monsters in Purgatory. The way she sidled up to him after he roughed up their suspect. He wasn't sure why it seemed to work so well but it did. "Well, only if Metatron is purposely surrounding himself with losers," he replied to her.

They both took a step away from Ezra but remained in earshot. "So what's this guy even doing here? We're wasting our time."

"What if I'm a decoy? Or in deep cover?"

"It's pathetic," she whispered dangerously.

 _That_ was why. The way she spoke when she kept herself focused on him. It dripped with venomous honey. Something that seemed to draw truth out of monsters. "Mm, probably hasn't even been to heaven, not since the fall."

"Yes I have!" Ezra argued like a child.

Zarya rolled her eyes and sauntered around the chair preditorialy. "Buddy, the gates are sealed. No one can get in."

"Who said anything about gates? You don't need gates when you have a private portal."

"Right," Dean humored him. "If there was a doorway on Earth, angels would have sensed it."

"Yeah," his ravenette agreed, "you can't hide something like that."

"You can if it moves around from place to place, if it's wherever the boss wants it to be."

"I get it," Dean snapped his fingers. "He's a fan."

"Yes! You're a fan. Just 'cause you're hot for Metatron...or Bieber or Beckham... Just 'cause you know everything about them doesn't mean that you actually know them."

"Or that they even know you exist."

Zarya snickered, walking back up to him. "Awh, that's cold, Dean."

He smirked. "I'm just sayin'."

Ezra was starting to panic, feeling so undermined. "I was interviewed personally by Metatron for a key post! I-I was a finalist!"

She gasped dramatically. "Ohh. To get so close and then get kicked downstairs. It sucks to be you." She smiled mockingly and flipped him off.

"Hardly anybody was chosen! And ground forces is still a very important assignment. It was an honor to have even been considered for the squad."

"What 'squad'?" Dean scoffed. "There is no squad."

"Yeah, says you. It's a highly guarded secret."

"Wait a second. Just, please, uh... Clarify this for me." Zarya put a hand on her hip. "You desperately wanted this job, but you didn't know what it was?"

"Well, until you were chosen, the exact nature of the mission was kept a secret."

"Wow," the duo mused before walking out of the room.

Dean smirked a little and put an arm over her shoulders as they walked. "That was pretty impressive, Zare. Really cunning. Haven't seen it in a long time."

She smiled a little up at him. "It's been a while but that guy was so pathetic and desperate he made it so easy for me."

His phone rang suddenly, Sam's name coming up on the ID. "What's going on, Sammy?" He asked, putting the call on speaker.

" _You're not gonna believe this, but this town is crazy."_ Dean looked to Zarya with a disapproving look that she grinned up at. " _Cas and I are at the high school right now because of some bad spell their witch is doing. Turns out Nova's got an addiction to cocaine and she found angel blood to be stronger."_

Her eyes widened. _Nova, why…?_

"Don't let your guards down," Dean told him. "You're on supernatural territory right now."

 _"We won't be long. We're just backup quick; checking on a lead then we'll be back. We aren't here for any fights."_

The call ended and someone was screaming for help. They ran back down the hall to the interrogation room where the angel from earlier was in hysterics. Looking into the room they found Ezra dead.

* * *

When Sam and Castiel returned they found out about Ezra immediately. Zarya was borderline in hysterics trying to assure them that he was fine when they left. "I barely touched the guy," Dean told them.

"No," came Cas, "this was an angel kill."

"Okay. Well, I'm gonna say it. Maybe your operation's been hacked. You know, Metatron's got somebody on the inside."

"I was sure everyone here was loyal. Finally united by a common cause."

"That's the problem, Cas," Zarya told him gently. "You can't believe that one of them could lie to you."

"I think everybody's lying," Dean added. "It's a gift. Let's do some nosin' around." He nodded to Zarya, heading for the door.

Once the two were gone, Cas pulled Sam aside, asking if he had a moment. "I wanted to ask you about Gadreel, the time he possessed you."

Sam made a face. "It's not really something I like to-"

"Sam, please."

He sighed. "He didn't possess me completely - more like we, uh... shared housing. I was still me."

"Did you ever sense a presence?"

"I don't really know what I felt. I mean, maybe that I wasn't completely alone."

"Did you ever feel threatened?"

"No. More that he... wasn't at rest, l-like he had unfinished business. Now that we know more about him, I-I'd say he felt misunderstood. What's this about, Cas?"

The angel was quiet a moment. Contemplative. "What do we tell Dean and Zarya about what happened in Mystic Falls?"

Sam's expression turned grim thinking about it. "I'm honestly hoping they'll be too focused on this angel business for a bit but I'll deal with it if or when they do."

* * *

[Flashback to Mystic Falls High]

Nova had taken off, leaving Zina, Sam, and Castiel to focus on Saskia solely. The oldest Vasile in the building laughed maniacally. "Go on, give it your best go."

"And I was rumored to be mad?" Zina muttered.

Saskia's face changed slowly, her eyes darkening. "And then all light will end," her voice dropped low and demonic. "And the world will live in darkness." She stalked towards them slowly. "The very air will be pestilence to mankind. Our brethren, the night creatures, will emerge and feed. Such as our power, such as our kingdom, such as my kiss."

Zina stepped forward towards her bravely, her own face beginning to change. "Your ideals are foolish and the world will watch your burn."

Saskia looked to Sam, making eye contact with him, and rolled back her left sleeve. The Mark of Cain stared back at them, burning red against her white skin. "I know I am going to burn. But when it is my time, my kiss will make Dean burn alongside me."

* * *

[Present]

Zarya approached Dean slowly. She could tell he was lost in the depths of his own mind. She reached out cautiously and wrapped her small hand around the top of his shoulder. He snapped right to and looked up, finding the smallest bit of solace in her unusually but beautifully shaded eyes. "Are you alright?" She asked him softly.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, putting his hand on top of hers. "Yeah, I'm fine. You look like you've seen better days."

She laughed a little and sat up on the desk he was at. "I've also seen much worse, if you recall. Like my body literally decaying if I didn't adhere to a reverse restraining order with the devil and fighting for not only my own life in Purgatory but yours as well."

That got him to smile a little. "Yeah, well, I guess the Vasiles are just the cherry on top, aren't they?"

She frowned and looked away. "I am sorry, Dean," she spoke just above a whisper, "for how reckless I'd been. But I had to know where I came from. I just didn't think it was going to be such a mess like the Vasiles."

He stood and wrapped his arms around her protectively. She jumped a little before relaxing with her hands and cheek on his chest. "You did what you had to do." His phone rang, separating them. "It's about time. Where the hell have you been?"

She could hear Crowley on the other end. " _I told you I'd be in touch when I'd found Abaddon. Well... I'm in touch."_

The two locked eyes. "Where are you?" He demanded of Crowley.

" _First things first. I'll give you the location of the First Blade. You two fetch it, I'll keep her in my sights, then we'll remove her from the payroll for good."_

When the call ended, Zarya looked at him, searching his face for truth. "Are you ready for this?"

He gave her hand a squeeze. "I could never be more ready, Zare."

* * *

When they arrived at the hotel, Dean knew Crowley was trying to warn him about something. He told Sam and Zarya to check out the basement, walking off with the First Blade. Something just didn't sit right in Zarya, and it didn't sit right with Sam either. "Why don't you go follow Dean?" He suggested.

"Are you sure?" She questioned, taking her revolver out of her thigh holster.

"I'm pretty positive. He told you from the beginning didn't he? When we're in the field you stay by his side. I need you to stay by his side, Zarya."

She saw the emotion in his hazel eyes and nodded immediately, spinning her revolver. "I got him, Sam."

He put his hand over hers and the gun, gently pushing them down. He had a duffel bag on his shoulder that he handed to her. "This might do you more good than even your revolver." He gave her a small smile before darting off towards the basement with his own gun in hand.

Zarya slipped her revolver back in the holster and unzipped the duffel bag. She gasped a little, eyes widening with astonishment. Inside was a black leather quiver filled with silver arrows and a glimmering black and lilac bow. She slid the quiver onto her shoulder, pulling out an arrow for the bow. As she started to walk, something on the arrow caught her attention; an engraved sigil. A 'V' with pointed tips an an infinity loop below it. She quickly pulled out her (Winchester ordered and approved) phone and searched the symbol. She shook for a moment seeing Remiel's name appear on the screen. It was her sigil; it was her weaponry. Her angel blade made into arrows.

She composed herself and bounded ahead after Dean with a fire burning deep in her seemingly more emerald eyes. She heard them talking and crept up on the room making absolutely no sound. Crowley had set it up so Abaddon was there waiting for them. The moment Abaddon laid her hands on Dean, Zarya came around the corner with Remiel's arrow at the ready. Crowley just about fell backwards into a chair when he saw Zarya Vasile with the archangel Remiel's weapon. Just as he did when he saw the Mark of Cain, he marked a cross over his chest.

Abaddon stared at the ravenette tauntingly. She dared Zarya to fire the arrow, thinking it was nothing more than a silver arrow. Zarya surprised her by taking the shot and sending the arrow deep into the Knight's shoulder. Abaddon dropped Dean suddenly, the arrow actually causing her great physical pain. She stumbled back, giving the elder Winchester an opening with the First Blade. He rammed the blade deep into her abdomen, taking her off her feet. Zarya lowered the bow, her eyes wide with a great pride, until she realized he was _still_ stabbing the dead demon. The pride quickly turned to fear as she ran over to him.

"Dean!" She grabbed his arm, dropping the bow on the floor beside her. "Dean, you can stop!"

Sam ran in as his brother finally dropped the blade. Zarya looked up at him for what to do with panicked eyes.


	9. Please Tell Me I Am Not Undone

09: Please Tell Me I Am Not Undone.

Zarya was sprawled out in her bed in the bunker, her comforter being the only thing to cover her. The room was pitch black until a light from the door started to grow slowly as the door opened. Someone stepped into the room, making just the smallest noise on her floor, and she jolted upright in the bed with her revolver cocked in hand. Her eye twitched when she realized it was only Dean grinning at the end of her gun. She locked her gun and flopped back onto the mattress, putting the revolver back under the pillow.

He chuckled a little and stood at the end of her bed. "Pretty impressive reflexes and hearing but ah, that hair is still a hot mess."

She looked at her clock and groaned before pulling her blanket over herself entirely. "It's only been like two hours you maniac."

He grabbed the end of the blanket and yanked, sending it flying through the air off of her. "Not tired. And we got work to do, so put on your dancing shoes, and let's-"

As the comforter landed with a soft sound on the floor, the two of them realized Zarya had gone to bed in only a sports bra and booty shorts. She wasn't sure why she avoided eye contact as she got up. "It'll take me an extra fifteen to brush out this rat's nest."

Her hand reached out for the purple brush on her table but he swiped it from her, lightly tapping her head with it. "It'll only take me eight to brush through it," he had her sit back down and sat behind her on the bed, "and three to braid it."

"Ooh, so you're four minutes faster than me including styling," she mocked him with a grin of her own.

They were quiet while he brushed her hair until Dean decided to speak. "If you want me to have a better record time with this disaster then I'll have to do it every night and morning again."

She smiled at the memory. "I miss that," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"I can do it again… If you planned to stick around."

"Coffee is done!" Sam called tiredly down the hall. Had Dean really woken him so early too? What a lunatic.

Dean was halfway done braiding her hair and they were quiet again. He finished and was about to stand when she grabbed his hand, looking up at him with a soft smile. He always hated those fly aways around her face from how uneven her hair was. Her bangs had started to grow out again.

"I don't plan on leaving ever again, Dean," she told him. "I did my searching and I found my family here, with you and Sam."

 _Turns out you were right this whole time, Lucifer,_ she thought mournfully. _That Mama vamp too. But I'll never turn it off like them. I'll never become them. Even if that means forgetting all about this Lucifer and Remiel crap._

Once the three were around the table they got down to business. Dean was already stuffing his duffel bag when Sam and Zarya entered with mugs of fresh coffee. "Alright," Sam started, "what's up?"

"I called Cas," the older brother answered. "He said there's something going down in Missouri."

"What kind of something?" Zarya questioned.

"He said he couldn't talk about it over the phone."

"Why not?" came Sam.

"Because he is a weird guy, okay? He's a weird, dorky, little guy. But he happens to have an army of angels behind him, and, even though I hate to say it, if we're gonna take a shot at Metatron, they might be useful."

Zarya finished the last sip of her coffee and set down her mug before cracking her knuckles. "Well, good enough for me. I'm gonna go change and pack." She headed out of the room but barely made it away when she heard them talking about the First Blade.

"Do you think we need the First Blade?" Sam questioned with concern in his voice. "Why don't we just leave that here?"

"We talked about this, and we decided that-"

"No. In all fairness, we didn't decide. You did."

"Okay, I decided that a hockey stick that can kill anything might come in handy, so sue me."

"How many times have we been around this block? Magic that powerful comes at a price, and right now we don't know what that price is."

"I'm fine. I'm fan-friggin'-tastic."

"And I'm glad, honestly. I'm not saying we bury the thing. I'm saying we just save it for when we really need it. Crowley. Metatron. The big boss fights. You don't have to have it with you all the time, right? I mean, just leave it. Please."

"No problem."

"Thank you."

Zarya quickly dashed off to her room to pack what she needed. By time she was done, Sam and Dean were grabbing other things from the bunker. Dean's duffel bag was still on the table so she tossed hers on the table beside his. Something further down the table caught her eye; on one of the dusty old shelves she noticed the First Blade mixed in with books. She walked towards it slowly, almost mesmerized. Looking around and finding herself alone still she swiped the blade and tucked it in her bag.

* * *

"Agents Spears, Aguilera, and Clarkson?" the deputy at Colonel Scoop's greeted them. "Your partner said you'd be coming."

"All I know is I better be friggen Spears," Zarya muttered as they were led to the scene. "What is this?" Her face contorted in horror and disgust. "Some sort of mass smiting?"

"I don't know what this was. Never seen anything like it. Six humans died here... And one angel."

"Well it wasn't Nova," Sam sighed, looking at the mess. "Not a vampire at all. Looks like a suicide bomber. One of yours?"

"Was a good soldier. This attack... I knew he wanted a war, but this...This is abhorrent, even for him."

The four returned to Castiel's command center where they were greeted by Hannah. They still couldn't adhere to the angels calling Cas 'commander'. Zarya snickered every time, thinking of a TV show she would catch from time to time. Apparently no one had seen Josiah since Ezra's murder so they started searching for his vessel. Surprisingly enough he recently used a credit card.

"Commander," came another angel. "I have something. This phone's memory chip has a video time-stamped just before the explosion."

They all watched in horror as the man caused a massive explosion at the ice cream shop with a sigil carved into his chest. Cas felt like he was going to be sick, someone claiming to do something so heinous in his name. "That was an angel," Hannah pointed out. "Esther. She's one of Metatron's."

"Alright, why don't Zare and I check out the walking nuke and Cas, you go to Colorado with Sam. Find Josiah." Dean suggested.

When everyone agreed and they separated, Zarya and Dean headed to the Impala. She chuckled a little. "Sam's usually got shotgun. This just doesn't feel right."

He gave her a small smile and started to drive. "What kinda car was in that locked unit?"

 _So you did find out about that,_ she thought. "A Cadillac DeVille. Apparently my birth mom's. It was the one in the accident."

He glanced at her with a questioning eye. "That thing went over a bridge into water." She nodded. "Damn. Props to the guy that fixed it. Too bad it wasn't me." He grinned a little.

"I'd love to know who fixed the car but there's still a lot of things I don't know yet." She looked up to him slyly. "If you'd ever want to race though, I'd totally smoke you." She winked.

Dean laughed genuinely which made her smile. "Sorry Zare, never gonna happen. No other car can beat Baby, and no other driver can beat me," he smirked down proudly at her.

They shared a laugh and spend the remainder of the ride listening to the radio. He kept one hand on the wheel and one on Zarya's thigh. Sometimes she would sing beside him. Something felt familiar about the whole thing but she couldn't figure out why. After a few failed theories she pushed it to the back of her mind and enjoyed the trip. They made it to the hospital and parked in the back to change quick into their FBI garb.

"Honestly, why pencil skirts?" Zarya groaned as she reached around to pull up the zipper.

He chuckled and gently zipped up the back of her black skirt. He'd never admit it, but for the quickest second he may have marveled at how her rear looked in the tight skirt. The way her blouse hugged her curves, how long her legs looked in even the smallest of heels. He tugged on the hair tie around her braid and pulled it out, allowing her hair to fall in waves at her shoulders. Another thing he'd never admit: he was glad Sam wasn't there with them for once.

She flipped her hair around, tousling it about. She bent over and grabbed a clip she had long since discarded in the glovebox that hadn't been touched since. She had to be completely oblivious to not feel Dean's eyes on her. She forced herself to ignore it, knowing her face would give it away otherwise. She'd never admit it even to herself, but she liked the attention from him. Zarya smiled and did a little twirl for him when she was ready. "Am I ready for the case, Special Agent?" She smiled and winked at him.

Dean's lips twitched towards a smile looking at her. He reached into his pocket and tossed her a little leather ID case. "I'd say you're plenty qualified, Special Agent Jett."

Her eyes widened and glimmered with excitement. She looked at the ID he had given her; Special Agent Janis Jett. She couldn't help but smile; they kept it since her very first case with them. When they went after Pestilence.

* * *

[Flashback]

 _After hearing Sam type away on his laptop for over an hour straight Zarya cracked a smile. "Sam, how is it your battery never dies and you have wifi everywhere? If my router was one inch out of place it wouldn't work."_

 _He laughed a little. "I haven't needed wifi for what I've been doing." He pulled a small machine from his bag and put it on the dash. After a couple of minutes it printed out an ID with Zarya's picture on it. "You're going to need it on the job along with the dress clothes in the trunk."_

" _Ooh, FBI," she grinned, laughing when she saw the name. "Janis Jett? Alright, I can appreciate that. But how do other people believe it?"_

" _Just look at Dr. Evil's lair here," Dean pointed out. "Who'd think a horseman of the apocalypse would hide out here? It's like a four-color brochure for dying young. Of course, to Pestilence, it's probably Dollywood in there."_

* * *

[Present]

The hospital staff stepped aside when Dean and Zarya walked down the hall. She hadn't expected it to be as easy as it was to find who they needed, but apparently in that moment the duo had an air about them that just worked in their favor. The two sat at a table in what looked like a boiler room across from an angel in a doctor's coat. She kept looking between the two of them, clearly uncomfortable.

"What do we call you?" Zarya spoke first, deathly calm.

"My angelic name is 18 syllables long. Let's stick with Flagstaff."

"Copy that," Dean muttered. "So, you knew this Oren guy?"

"We worked together at the hospital. He was a joy - bright, full of life."

"Yeah, I hear he had a real explosive personality." Zarya elbowed her partner for that comment, trying not to chuckle.

Flagstaff narrowed her eyes at the two. "Do you think this is a joke?"

His face remained stoic and cold. "Do you see me laughing? Is there anything else you can tell me about him? For example, why he'd light his own fuse?"

"No," Flagstaff replied curtly. "Can I go now? I have lives to save."

"Welcome to the club," Zarya muttered, resisting the urge to roll her eyes into the back of her head.

When the angel smirked and scoffed a little, Zarya could feel the anger boiling in Dean beside her. "Something funny?"

"Not funny "ha ha." But you thinking you help people - it's amusing. I help people. A clogged artery here, a tumor there. I do good in this world. You- you believe every problem can be solved with a gun. You play the hero, but underneath the hype, you're a killer with oceans of blood on his hands. I hate men like you."

She caught Zarya's eyes flash magenta for the quickest second and fear filled her body. With her eyes on the ravenette, hoping she wasn't going to react, Flagstaff took her attention off of Dean who leaped to his feet and threw the table aside in one swift movement. He threw Flagstaff and her chair backwards but caught them before they hit the ground with an angel blade to her throat. Zarya had stood from her own chair and watched the swift moment, finding herself momentarily flustered.

"O-Oren," the ravenette spoke, her voice growing louder and bolder slowly. "Friends."

Flagstaff looked dejected. "Constantine… And Tessa."

"Tessa?" Dean questioned with surprise. "The reaper, Tessa?"

"You know her?" Both the angel and Zarya questioned in unison.

Flagstaff looked at Zarya as Dean backed off slowly. There it was, what gave the girl her spark. No angel could miss Lucifer's imprint on her, but the girl had another mark on her soul. One that blazed with a magnificent fire deep in her heart that she wore so blatantly on her sleeve. _You are just an innocent girl at heart, are you not, little Vasile?_ The angel thought. As Zarya walked out after Dean, Flagstaff called for them back. She looked Zarya in the eye, admiring the way her emerald eyes shined a little bluer for her humanity, and told her where they could find the reaper. Once they were gone she signed a cross over her chest. In all of her lifetime she had never seen a bond so wicked yet so magnificent.

They practically stormed down the hall and out the hospital. At one point going upstairs he had grabbed her hand to make sure she kept up with him. With her free hand once they made it outside she pulled the clip out and let her hair fall loose. Dean looked back at her just as the sun hit her right. It illuminated the difference in the green and blue of her eyes and showed the indigo undertone in her dark hair. One thing he would openly admit was that he found her beautiful. He'd tell anyone that. But sometimes she shined so bright that he couldn't think about it. Once and awhile she let it show just how extraordinary she really was.

He pulled her behind a post at the auditorium and they saw Tessa walking up their way. Dean walked out to cut off her path. She tried to turn another way but locked eyes with Zarya. As soon as the reaper saw her she knew who the girl was. "Got yourself a new partner I see. Sam hasn't come my way so he's not dead. But you two just seem awfully comfortable with one another. You here one a date too?" She smirked at Zarya.

The ravenette's cheeks started to heat up. She put a hand on her hip, eyeing the reaper up and down scrutinizingly. "Only if it's "Fiddler"," she commented boredly. "We're here to talk."

"Where's the other one?" Dean asked. "Where's Constantine?"

* * *

"Tessa?" Hannah asked with a concerned surprise when the reaper walked in, captured by Dean and Zarya. "What are you doing?"

"You want to tell her?" he looked down at Tessa.

When she remained silent, Zarya pulled back the top of her shirt and showed the gashes going across. "Oh God," the brunette angel breathed with horror.

"There is no God," Tessa practically spat. "There's only Castiel."

Sam and Cas were half jogging in, having caught wind of what was going on just as Dean and Zarya were walking off with Tessa. "Your brother's a psycho, Sam!" She yelled to him. "You gotta stop him before the little Vasile is more turned on than scared!"

Zarya's brows raised, cheeks starting to flush. Why the hell did everyone always get that opinion of her and Dean? "Alright, lady, now you're just reaching," she denied.

As they walked down to a warded room, Hannah chased after them. "You wounded her," she stated about the bleeding cut across Tessa's chest sigil.

"More like "defused," okay?" Zarya answered. "We cut up that old testament graffiti she carved into herself. Figured that would break the spell."

"Now it's time to get answers," Dean added.

After agreeing to disagree with the angels, Tessa was in a warded room and sitting at a table. Across from her Dean and Zarya sat with Hannah standing off to the side of the room. "Okay," Dean forced himself to remain calm. "We'll start with an easy one: who are you working for?"

"Castiel," Tessa bit back venomously.

"Liar," Hannah snapped in Cas' defense.

"People like you, they never understand. Sacrifices have to be made."

"So you go after one of the bad guys," Dean started, "and if a few humans get microwaved, no big deal, right?" He shrugged.

"In the grand scheme, they don't matter. When Castiel came to me and told me what I had to do, he said I was chosen because I was strong. Others...they couldn't handle this. They're too weak." Her gaze looked up to Hannah with a mocking smile.

Hannah surprisingly lashed out and made a move for the reaper. Dean stood quickly and stopped the angel before she reached the table. With one last glance at Tessa, Hannah stormed out with a huff, leaving Tessa alone with the two hunters. Dean had stood and started to pace. Zarya had changed before the interrogation, deeply sick of the pencil skirt. Her bag laid at her feet beneath the table.

"Why are you doing this?" Zarya tried.

"Castiel."

She threw her head back and groaned dramatically. "Forget about Cas, Tessa!"

"Why are you doing this?" Dean demanded. "What would make a person want to pop their top, huh? I mean, look, I've been in bad shape. I have. But I have never been that damn low."

"I guess I just can't take the scheming."

"Who's scheming?" Zarya questioned.

Tessa's eyes kept flashing between the two. They were so disgustingly fluid with one another. How? She heard about Lucifer's little Vasile, she could still see his imprint on her soul. "All of them," she told them suddenly with her eyes locked on Zarya's. "The lost souls. The ones that can't get into heaven now that it's been boarded up. I hear them. They are so confused. They're in so much pain. All I want to do is help them. It's what I do. It's my job. But I can't. So I suffered... Until death, nothingness. Suddenly, it didn't seem so bad. It seemed quiet."

"So, why don't you just jam an angel blade in your throat and call it a day?"

Tessa noticed the way Zarya reacted to his comment. There was something about them; between them. "I thought about it. But I was too weak. Till Castiel gave me a reason to die."

"See, that doesn't sound like the Cas we know." Zarya shook her head.

"But doesn't it, though? And the Cas you know, would he raise an army of angels without telling you? 'Cause this Cas did. I'll tell you a secret. There's more out there...Like me. So many more."

"You got names?" Dean was growing impatient.

"That would ruin all the fun."

Zarya's heart seemed to skip a beat for a moment, her pupils dilating. "What if...the fun was just getting started?" She reached below the table and into her bag without breaking gaze with the reaper. Right on top her small hand wrapped around the bone and slid it delicately out of her bag. Tessa's face immediately contorted in horror; she wanted nothing more than to run but could only leap from her seat.

Dean eyed the ravenette curiously. "What are you doing with that, Zare?"

Her green-blue eyes looked down at the First Blade thoughtfully. "I... I heard you and Sam talking this morning, about how Sam didn't want you to bring it. If you're supposed to use it," she stood slowly, handing it out to him, "then you should have it."

There it was, Tessa could finally see it. She wasn't sure if it was more horrifying than the First Blade or not. It chilled her to the bone when she found the second imprint on Zarya Vasile. A horrendous little mark that wasn't supposed to be there. Tessa could see that it was something new, unplanned. It had been forged purely out of free will and that was made it so terrifyingly beautiful. The moment the First Blade passed from her hand to his Tessa made a run for it. She ran straight at the blade, impaling herself on it.

Zarya's eyes widened and her lips parted. "That wasn't supposed to happen like that," she muttered.

"Thank you?" Dean commented after the light died down and she fell to the floor.

The door burst open, several angels led by Hannah flooding in. Zarya and Dean's eyes met, the Blade firmly in his hand. He knew her revolver was strapped to her leg; he could just see her hand hovering above it. He gave her a curt nod before they turned back to the angels and she swiftly whipped out her gun. For the quickest second she was the vision she had seen four years ago when picking out her revolver.

* * *

[Flashback]

" _Well we've got to get a weapon you're comfortable with for right now," Dean told her. She realized they pulled into the parking lot of a gun shop. "Got anything in mind?"_

 _She thought for a moment, considering the pistol she had bought in an alley once. She wondered if that was still under her bed or if they turned up her apartment yet. She had to be behind on rent if she even still had the place. Something came to her from nowhere, filling her vision. An arm in first person was extended, a revolver in the hand that was clearly a woman's but not a woman who had seen a manicure recently. There was a rose gold and amethyst bracelet on her pale wrist._

" _I want to try a revolver," Zarya answered when she returned from her little vision._

* * *

[Present]

Zarya came to groggily, finding herself handcuffed to a chair with duct tape covering her mouth. She could just start to make out voices growing nearer. When she extended her fingers, cracking her wrists, she felt warm hands behind her in the same way. _Dean,_ she thought.

"They put up a fight," she heard Hannah explain after the door opened.

"Get out," Cas told her firmly. He went to the ravenette while Sam went to his brother and they removed the duct tape first.

Dean let out a groan before laughing a little. "You should have seen the other ten guys."

"What happened?" Zarya asked softly. "I-I remember Tessa impaling herself and there was a commotion."

"Dean took the First Blade and used it on Tessa," Sam scolded. "We had a deal. I just don't understand why you fought back too, Zarya."

"Yeah, well, it was a stupid deal," the elder brother argued, almost as if to keep Sam's attention on him. "I grabbed the blade, so what?"

"Tessa would still be alive. Without her, we ain't got jack."

Zarya's eyes widened as she remembered something. "No," she spoke after her handcuffs were released. "I remember; it was me."

"What was you?" Sam questioned curiously.

She stood and faced him. "I took the First Blade."

"Zare, stop," Dean tried to warn her.

"I stashed it and gave it to Dean."

He groaned, his palm hitting his forehead. "Why would you do that?" Castiel asked her gently.

She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself and stepping away from them all. She couldn't even look up from the floor. "I just wanted to help. I figured if it worked for him and had the fear of God in everything then he might as well use it. I'm sure it wasn't easy to get your hands on it."

"Yeah, and it comes with a nasty price," Sam scolded her.

"Leave her be," Dean defended, stepping in front of her. "She was just doing what she thought she had to do."

After everything lately, Sam snapped back. "Well she also thought freeing Lucifer was what she had to do."

She bit her lip. She deserved that. And yet still Dean defended her, yelling back at his brother. She wanted nothing more than for him to stop and for her to just disappear. Cas was the one to speak up, shouting over both brothers for them to stop the idiocy. Once they finally settled down, Hannah ran in. "Commander, I'm sorry, but you have a call...From Metatron."

Zarya sat back on one of the desks, watching the whole thing unfurl. She found it disgusting the way Metatron tried to paint Castiel to the other angels. She could practically hear the lies in his words. When he mentioned Cas stealing Grace from other angels to survive she looked to him, seeing the guilt in his face. Cas was living on stolen Grace, Gadreel had forcibly possessed Sam to save his life when the angels fell, Sam's life was in peril because they had been desperately trying to close the gates of Hell; she had turned her back on the brothers when they needed her so she could selfishly hunt down the family she's starting to wish she didn't descend from. Sometimes she wished she was still trapped in Purgatory. Literally fighting everyday of her life was less painful.

"I want to believe you," Hannah began, taking a step away from Cas, "but I...we need proof."

"Name it," he all but pleaded.

She pointed. "Punish him." Zarya's eyes followed Hannah's finger to Dean. Thankfully none of the angels witnessed her eyes flash magenta.

" _What?_ " The elder Winchester spat.

"He murdered Tessa. He broke our rules."

"Y'all can all go to Hell."

He tried to walk away but was grabbed by a few angels. Sam moved to defend his brother and was also restrained. Zarya's eyes searched for some kind of weapon when she felt something cool in her sleeve. She looked down subtly and tried not to freak out when she saw Lucifer's angel blade in her hand again. "Fuck it," she muttered, diving through a small divot in the crowd straight for Dean. She stood bravely in front of him with the angel blade in hand, Lucifer's sigil displayed to the angels. "If any of you want to lay a finger on him, I'll tear you apart."

"You would!" One of the angels shouted. "Vasiles are abominations! Just look at the blade she's using to defend the murderer!"

"Castiel," Hannah begged quietly.

Cas looked sadly at Hannah and the rest of the crowd. "No," he shook his head. "I can't."

One by one the angels filed out of the building. Hannah gave him one final look. "Goodbye, Castiel."

* * *

Zarya laid in her bed at the bunker just staring up her ceiling with her hair sprawled out across the pillows. She could hear the brothers arguing and looked to her teddy bear sitting beside her still. The yelling grew quiet and she let out a small sigh, curling over. She reached for her teddy when Sam's voice rang down the halls. " _Guys!_ " She immediately jumped out of bed grabbing Remiel's quiver and bow at the side of the bed and ran, her bare feet padding down the floors.

She reached behind her to grab an arrow and slid it to the bow. Her feet skid to a halt when she saw Dean swinging up with the First Blade in his hand. Gadreel was in front of him, taking a deep cut across the chest from the blade. He stumbled back and fell against the outright bow, feeling the arrow pressing into his spine.

"You're becoming quite the Vasile," he panted, still deeply pained from the gash. Sam and Castiel were trying to subdue Dean. They likely couldn't even see Zarya behind him. "You're living up to the claims of your clan, but you'll have to fight off Saskia for what you desire most."

Zarya looked up at the back of the angel's head, irises blazing a magnificent emerald. She knew the gash from the First Blade must have been slowly killing him. "I'm going to do more than just live up to them; I'm going to surpass each and every one of them. And don't you worry, Saskia is very high on my hit list." Her eyes could see just past Gadreel to Dean being contained in his brother and Castiel's grip. She released the bow's string, sending the arrow through Gadreel's chest and the cut he had already been dying from.


	10. I'm Searching for Something I Cant Reach

**A/N:** There we have it, the grand finale to season 9! While _Monster_ will be continuing in another book, _Devil in Me_ will continue on here as normal after the hiatus. In the meantime, I'll try to continue the original _Rise_ for all of the background info.

Thank you to everyone who has given endless support on this series; stay tuned this spring/summer for the premiere of season 10!

Like my Facebook page for important updates, promos (which there are two new ones on youtube!), and premiere dates!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

10: I'm Searching for Something That I Can't Reach.

Gadreel landed on the floor in a heavy heap, Grace and blood spilling everywhere. Sam and Castiel kept a firm grip on Dean who refused to drop the First Blade. Cas looked back at one point and saw Zarya. He had to do a double take when he noticed Remiel's bow in her hands. "Dean!" Sam called to his brother. "Look at me!"

"Zarya," Cas called to the ravenette. "Please drop Remiel's weapon."

"Let it go!" Sam tried to get the blade from Dean's hand. "Let it go!"

She looked up, directly at Dean. Her hands shook a little on the bow, debating whether or not to grab another arrow. He met her eyes and stopped for a moment. He could hear his brother pleading that he dropped the blade and, as much as he'd have wanted to, he found that he couldn't. He realized that Zarya was in pajamas, black sweatpants and a purple tank top that exposed her midriff. Her hair stuck up in places on the top of her head, tired eyes still managing to gleam.

The First Blade slipped from his hand slowly, thudding loudly on the floor through the silence. As he watched the green and blue burn brightly in her eyes, Dean offered a small nod. Her lips quivered, a shaky breath escaped her lips before Zarya slowly lowered the bow, letting one hand drop from it. Her eyes stared forward, filling with tears, as Sam and Cas brought Dean to the basement.

Once they were gone her bare feet padded back to her bedroom. She slammed and locked her door behind her, tossing the bow and quiver onto her bed. She paced around the bedroom frantically, running her hands through her messy hair. Once again she felt as though she was losing grip but it was unlike what Lucifer had made her feel. She longed to talk to Nick, to just blubber to him on the couch. She'd found herself comfortable enough to talk to Dean, probably even Sam since she felt so out of control, but neither of them were options at that moment. She thought of Nick again, her heart aching for her best friend. His face in her memory warped suddenly, reminding her of what Lucifer had taken. Everything started to spin around her when she dropped to the floor unconscious.

* * *

Zarya's eyes pried open slowly, warm light hitting them. She realized she was laying on a park bench in the middle of nowhere. She sat up slowly; there was one little girl on the swings. Zarya stood up and cautiously approached the girl. She couldn't have been more than ten years old with long, black hair. Walking around to the front of her, Zarya found that she also had eyes as dark as her hair and a necklace dangling around her stomach because the cord was so long.

The girl smiled sweetly up at her. "Hello, Zarya. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, even if it isn't in person."

"You know who I am," she replied. "Where are we? And who are you?"

"Your body is still safely in Kansas but your mind gave you the opportunity to wander. A sort of astral projection."

"Who are you?"

"I think you've spent quite a bit of time with the Winchesters. Why don't you take a break and swing with me for a bit? I do truly enjoy these things. It's almost like I'm flying." Zarya hesitated before taking the swing beside the girl. She sat and only moved slowly at first. "You have been very brave, Zarya. Braver than all of the other girls."

She looked at the tiny ravenette swinging back and forth at a comfortable speed. There was something about her that was nothing like a child at all. She took a breath before quietly asking, "Are you...are you Remiel?"

She turned her head to look at Zarya with a warm smile. Her long, thick hair swayed around her gracefully with the wind. "Those most close to me could call me Rem. Only one of my brothers that I loved the most dearly could call me Remmy."

Zarya's breath stopped in her chest, her swing stopping entirely. "Everyone thought you were dead."

"Oh, not quite yet. There are only two beings I will allow that satisfaction to. I was weak for some time after my Fall, but I'm just about there again. I finally had enough power to create this vessel for myself."

"Y-you what?"

"I also have the gift of creation. Transfiguration, or Transmutation if you will. It is nothing like what my Father could accomplish, giving the humans such powerful souls and all. I tried to give my vessel the green eyes I envy so badly but unfortunately it seems my black ones are just too strong."

"Why a child though? Was it by choice?"

Remiel nodded. "I admire their innocence and view of the world. It's...pure. I know you must have hundreds more questions but we sadly do not have that kind of time right now, Zarya. I deeply regret all that has befallen Saskia, and the heartache you have had suffered in such a short human span. If my Father wishes to just sit back and watch then He can watch as I soar through His skies and fix His mistakes before saving my brother."

* * *

Zarya awoke steadily and realized right away that she was no longer in her locked bedroom; she was in the front seat of the Impala. "Morning, princess," came Crowley in the back seat.

She shrieked a little, looking between the King of Hell and Dean driving. "What the hell is this? What happened?"

"You had passed out on your bedroom floor," Dean told her, not taking his eyes off the road. "I grabbed your bow and quiver and bag too." He glanced over at her, half smirking because she was still barefoot in her pajamas. "Figured you probably wouldn't wanna stay in your pajamas all day."

She snatched up her bag from Crowley's hand in the back and dug through for an outfit. When she had what she needed she started to change, pulling her tank top over her shoulders in the passenger's seat. Crowley chuckled a little in the back seat. "Not much modesty I see."

"Not really, no," she replied curtly, sliding a Nirvana v-neck on. "You boys are the ones in charge of your eyeballs." She whipped off the sweatpants and started to tug on a pair of blue jeans. She knew Dean would peak. She knew most times he peaked. "I believe I recall locking my door and starting to have a mental breakdown before I passed out." She tossed him a sideglance as she slipped on socks and her combat boots.

Dean's lips twitched a little, almost towards a smirk. "I know how to pick a lock."

Zarya half smiled and shook her head. She slid on a navy blue flannel before her leather jacket and caught Crowley's eyes rolling in the mirror. "Bloody hell, is the flannel contagious? What is it with you hunters and your terrible patterns?"

She laughed lightly and looked out the window. "Stick it, Crowley. Not all of us can dress for a fancy funeral everyday." After a couple of minutes of not knowing where they were or what was going on, she looked to Dean. "So what is this? What about Sam and Cas? What _happened_?"

Genuinely. She didn't even know why she blacked out. Anemia? Lack of sleep or a proper diet? Stress? Or was it more magic and things out of her control? She had been sent to Remiel, but how? Why? Why at that particular moment? Why was she doing half of things she had been?

He whipped into a parking lot for a small diner and she cut her eyes at him. "Think of something to eat instead, Zare. You look like you haven't in weeks."

She grit her teeth and got out of the car without another question. By time she turned back around from shutting the door, Dean was at her side. Looking up at him she wanted nothing more than to grill him, or shoot Crowley and knock Dean out to drive him home. She wasn't stupid, she engraved devil's traps on each of the bullets she used. Loaded with rock salt and greased with holy oil. She'd been pondering a way to melt down an angel blade for the bullets themselves. Zarya knew though that she wasn't going to do a damn thing but follow him into the diner. She also knew the proverbial shit was really hitting the fan when he walked her in with his arm around her shoulders. He was keeping her close; protectively, possessively.

"What can I get you all today?" The waitress asked politely when they sat down.

"Coffee. Black." Dean answered just as Zarya spoke, "Plain bagel, please."

Crowley stared at both of them. "Are you serious? You take this girl's table, her time, you spread out like an overgrown teenager, and for what? What's the tip on a single cup of Joe and a bloody bagel? A dime?"

Dean immediately looked at Zarya. "I told you you need to eat."

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking defiantly back at him. "Says Mr. Eats Twelve Times a Day and Orders a Cup of Coffee."

He let out a defeated sigh and sat back in his seat with his arms over his own chest. "Fine. Double cheeseburger -everything, heavy on the onions."

The waitress looking cautiously to the ravenette. Zarya looked up to her slowly from the menu with a polite smile. "I'll have the bacon mac n cheese with a side of curly fries, please." Once she was gone, the two hunters went back to crossed arms and barely meaningful glares at one another.

Crowley rolled his eyes before looking about the diner. "So this is what you lot do, eh? Crisscross the country, searching for evil, order your nitrates, partake of the local attraction."

"Yep," the two answered virulently.

"You never get tired of the rat race? Never get the urge to just...bugger off and howl at the moon? Never ask yourself, "is this it? Is this all there is?" I kicked human blood, you know."

It was Dean's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh, so you're full-metal douche again. Well, that's fantastic. Would you like a stuffed bear?"

"Just trying to make conversation."

Zarya let out an exhale and shook her head before dumping half a cup's worth of sugar into the coffee that had been brought. "How's Hell, Crowley?" She humored.

"Hell's fine. Hell's like a Swiss watch. Don't worry about hell. Hell's complicated."

"Game of Thrones is complicated," came Dean. "Shower sex - that's complicated. Hell ain't complicated. Your problem ain't hell. It's you."

"Someone's gotta show you how to have sex in a shower then," the ravenette muttered with her chin in her palm as she stirred her coffee.

His attention quickly turned to her. "You wanna say that louder for the class, Zare?"

She smirked, desperately trying not to laugh or snort. "Nope," she strained in her attempt to not laugh. "Not at all."

There was a brief moment of silence in which Crowley looked away from both of them before speaking. "Fair enough," he started slowly. "What's your problem then?" He paused, and before Dean could answer, threw in, "Aside from apparently not knowing the proper technique to shower sex."

Zarya just about choked on the sip of coffee she took. Dean's eyes snapped right to her. She quickly put a hand over her mouth to conceal the grin. "H-hot coffee," she lied. "Very hot. Much burnt." She let a small snort slip through her nose.

Once she settled down and composed herself, he resumed the conversation. "My problem is Metatron. Right now there's nothing. There's no angel smitings, no crazy acts of God, no vermin, hail. If Metatron's making his move on earth, he is taking his sweet-ass time."

She noticed a couple of demons walk in then and stiffened in her seat. "Never fear," Crowley smirked. "Cavalry's here."

The three demons watched a video on a phone for a minute. Zarya looked slowly to Dean who could only give her a shrug. After a minute, Crowley took the phone and motioned for his lackeys to leave. "And?" The two impatiently questioned.

"Apparently... Your angel has gone viral."

Dean grabbed the phone and leaned closer to Zarya so she could watch with him. Crowley didn't notice it at first glance; he had to a double take and ended up staring at them. Dean had put one arm behind her chair and back, the other half on the table to show her the phone. She'd sidled right up to him, leaning gently against the arm around her. His dark eyes looked to the little human Vasile; he could see Lucifer's engravement on her soul right off the bat. Anybody with supernatural eyes probably could. It might as well have been stamped on her bloody forehead for the humans to see. But Crowley could see something swirling behind Lucifer's dark sigil. He, too, could see the second imprint as it started to shimmer beside Dean Winchester.

Oh how Crowley wanted nothing more than to turn meatsuit and flee away from the both of them. Just being within reach of a Vasile made his skin crawl, let alone Lucifer's personal little Vasile. Why not add an imprint from Dean Winchester?

"When was this taken?" Dean questioned as soon as the video ended, yet not moving away from the raven haired Vasile.

The King's eyes darted between the two of them. What a funny way her eyes darkened underneath the same way his did. "A couple of hours ago. Muncie, Indiana."

"What did he whisper in her ear?" Zarya followed up.

"Exactly."

Dean was about to stand just as the waitress returned with their order. Zarya's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, keeping him at her side as she politely asked for the food to go because something came up. Crowley was disgusted for the first portion of the ride, watching the two practically inhale their food in the front seat. Dean had tried to steal a handful of her fries but having to drive offered a handicap. She laughed at his failed attempts before shoving a small handful of fries in his mouth. Crowley literally watched Dean's mark on her soul growing brighter than Lucifer's.

* * *

Most of the middle of the ride was filled with a still silence. Dean was starting to get antsy from having to sit and drive thinking of Metatron. Zarya could see it all over his face, the agitation and boredom. She hesitated before deciding to just reach over and grab his free hand on his thigh. She almost withdrew her hand when she felt the indecisive stiffening of his hand beneath hers. Just before she did he reached around and tucked her fingers around his. Crowley's eyes nearly rolled to the back of his skull. That was when the ravenette in the passenger's seat did _the thing_ \- she reached out and touched the radio. She heard the song as it started faintly and quickly turned it up, tightening her grip around Dean's only free hand and grinning.

" _You're a Rolling Stone boy,_ " she sang quickly, looking up at him. " _Never sleep alone boy  
_ _Got a million numbers  
_ _And they're filling up your phone, boy  
_ _I'm off the deep end, sleeping  
_ _All night through the weekend_

 _Saying that I love him but  
_ _I know I'm gonna leave him_

 _You say that you're no good for me  
_ _'Cause I'm always tugging at your sleeve  
_ _And I swear I hate you when you leave  
_ _I like it anyway…"_ Her eyes turned slowly to the road ahead as she sang.

" _My ghost  
_ _Where'd you go?  
_ _I can't find you in the body sleeping next to me  
_ _My ghost  
_ _Where'd you go?  
_ _What happened to the soul that you used to be  
_ _I'm searching for something that I can't reach  
_

 _My ghost  
_ _Where'd you go?  
_ _I can't find you in the body sleeping next to me  
_ _My ghost  
_ _Where'd you go?  
_ _What happened to the soul that you used to be?"_

He made sure not to let go of her hand when he shut the radio off. She didn't miss the small smile on his face, though. Zarya didn't sing as often as she knew Nova did, but some songs she could just feel. When they finally rolled up to the RV park, Sam was there waiting for them. Dean saw the immediate frown on her face and gave her hand a squeeze so she'd look at him. "I got this. You two stay here."

He got out of the car to talk to his brother, leaving the Vasile alone with the King of Hell. Zarya could feel his eyes on her from the back seat as if she were some zoo animal. "So what's the deal between the two of you, hm?" He asked at last.

She rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about, Crowley?"

"Well it's quite obvious, isn't it? You can't keep your bloody eyes off him, even this very second." She flushed and quickly looked in literally any other direction. "Not to mention that in his escape he made sure grabbing you was top priority. Was about to break down your bloody door before he picked the damn lock. Sees you unconscious on your floor and just grabs you and goes. Even gave you shotgun. You think that's considered kidnapping, princess?"

"Shove it, Crowley. We've… always been like that. I don't know. He probably wants to make sure I don't fall off the wagon again. Can't say I blame him." She muttered the last part.

Crowley kept his eyes scrutinizingly on her. "Have you ever had an eye exam in your life, princess? Or was I the one hallucinating all the bloody disgusting PDA between the two of you? Including, but not limited to, your lovely serenade, darling."

She whipped around, glaring at him over the seat dangerously even though her cheeks were bright pink. "Listen, whatever sick fantasies you're dreaming up of Dean and I are entirely false and for your own twisted thoughts. I just want to keep Dean safe. We care about each other. He's saved my ass more times than I can count. I owe him a lot."

"I wonder how the archangel who marked you would take to the two of you 'caring' so deeply about one another. Being all over one another."

"We are not all over each other!" She hissed. "And Lucifer's opinion of my relationship with the Winchesters doesn't matter. I shut that door and locked it."

Crowley nearly laughed in her face. "Ah, darling, you'll never be rid of Lucifer. Not you, not ever." He stepped out of the car suddenly, looking at both brothers impatiently. "So what are we all gollywagging on about? Chop-chop." Zarya nearly laughed at the faces they gave him. "Excuse me. I'm not exactly demon minion number three here. As the kids say, I've got mad skills. I'd wish you boys good luck... If I thought it would help." Without another word, the King of Hell vanished.

She saw the brothers walking towards the car and smiled softly. With her hand on the door she heard a fist collide with someone and looked out the windshield with wide eyes as Sam fell limp in Dean's arms. She practically jumped out of the car. "What the hell, Dean!" She yelled, starting to panic.

The elder brother laid Sam across the backseat before looking seriously at the ravenette. "Stay calm and grab your bow. This isn't Sammy's fight."

She walked around the car, still gaping at him. "Are you crazy? We're all in this, Dean."

He put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. The way the moonlight and street lamps hit them they almost looked like a turquoise. "I can't let Sammy get hurt or worry that he might. I know you can handle yourself beside me, Zare." He didn't even notice at first but his hand moved and cupped her cheek gently. "I need _you_. If I can trust you as backup. Can I, Zare?"

 _You son of a bitch,_ she thought, biting her lip. _And I thought Sam had the puppy eyes._

Finally, she gave way to a small nod against his warm hand. She'd buckled under his gaze. Her voice came out barely above a whisper. "You can trust me, Dean."

 _Sam's only about a mile back,_ Zarya thought as she looked around the homeless camp. _Maybe two. Either he'll make it in time for the fight or we'll be able to handle the fucking scribe of God. No big deal, Zarya. This is just your life now._

She bumped into Dean's back when he stopped suddenly. Someone had come to greet them. "Can I help you?" He asked with a sneer.

"Take it easy, Chief," Dean told him.

"You're Dean Winchester," came a woman.

"Now, how did you know that?"

"He said you were coming." She looked to Zarya questioningly though. "He said nothing about a woman with you though."

"Well, here I am. And there's nothing you can do about her, ain't happening. Where's Metatron?"

"Marv," the first man corrected.

"Sure."

"In there... praying for our forgiveness." The woman answered.

"Forgiveness for what?" The woman's eyes landed on a blood pool on the ground. "Is he, now?"

Dean was sure to keep Zarya at his side as they approached where Metatron would be. He wasn't sure if Metatron knew about the Vasile line, or Zarya's existence. He didn't know she was there by Dean's side so they had that. Something didn't settle right in Zarya's gut and it wasn't the mac and cheese because it had been fantastic. She could feel something awful on the horizon. Something that made her chest ache and the rest of her physically ill. She kept looking up at Dean as if it would be the last time.

Metatron was sitting in a meditation position when they found him. Zarya slid an arrow onto her bow as she held the intake of breath she had. "You can save the humble-pie Jesus routine for somebody who gives a damn." Dean snapped at the scribe.

"The problem with you, Dean, is the cynicism." Metatron started. "Always with the cynicism. But most people-" His eyes landed on Zarya, widening slowly. "Zarya Vasile…" He breathed. "Even I thought you were dead." He realized what it was exactly that she was holding for a bow and stiffened. "With your angelic ancestor's weapon. I'm mildly impressed."

"So you've heard of me," she aimed the arrow at him. "Good for you. Whatever lies you'd like to puke about my apparent family you can keep to yourself. I don't care about them. I'm nothing like them."

"No, you're quite right. Nova Vasile is the one shredding angels' throats. You just stab and slice and shoot, getting all the blood on your hands instead of in your mouth." Dean started to unwrap the package in his hand, revealing the First Blade. He'd never say it out loud, but Metatron was mildly concerned staring down the blade and Remiel's arrows. He knew what they were capable of. He knew Nova's blades were made from two arrows. He also knew Zarya Vasile, being alive, shouldn't be holding Remiel's weapon alongside Dean Winchester. "The First Blade. Nasty piece of work, isn't she? Okay, let's say you win, Dean, and I die. What's the world left with then, hmm? A herd of panty-waisted angels and you? Half out of your mind with lord knows what pumping through those veins? Or your little sidekick who, in case you didn't get the memo, is literally sworn to Remiel and Lucifer. She can deny it all she wants but that dark temptation will turn her, whether it's into fangs or Lucifer's wife."

They both watched the rage flood Dean's face. "Yeah, you see, the only thing you've said that went into my ear was that you die."

The two started going head to head. Dean went in for a stab with the First Blade, but Metatron blocked him and hit him hard in the face. Something dark and wrathful washed over Zarya. She aimd the arrow and let it go into the scribe's thigh without a second thought. As she reached for another arrow he flicked his wrist and sent her flying into a brick wall. Dean came for him again but Metatron did almost the same to him, instead deciding to fling him up in the air and back down on the ground. The First Blade slipped from his hand and towards the archer that wouldn't let go of her bow.

Metatron started hitting Dean repeatedly. Zarya's blood started to boil as she watched, too numb to get up. She was forcing herself to feel again, trying to scream at her arm to reach for another arrow. The rage started to grow stronger and darker which allowed her to will her body to life again. She grabbed another arrow and lined it up while rising to her feet. Her eyes wavered between emerald and black with a brief magenta flash as her head started to spin. The arrow launched dead ahead for the scribe. He snapped his fingers and sent the arrow back at her. She just narrowly dodged it.

Zarya could hear heavy footfalls growing closer. _Sam,_ she thought pleadingly. She looked to Dean. Seeing him bleed made her fiery again. Leaning against the wall, she grabbed a third arrow and lined it up when something caught her eye - the First Blade. It was _so_ close to her. She could see Dean eyeing it and, with her arrow lined up still, she ran forward. She punted the blade as hard as she could to the green eyed Winchester, releasing her bow at the same time. The First Blade landed right in Dean's hand, Zarya's arrow deep in the scribe's side. Metatron let out a cry of sudden pain but Zarya saw the angel blade in his hand.

"Dean!" Sam yelled across the way.

Zarya's eyes widened with horror, dead locked with Dean's. Remiel's bow slipped slowly from her fingers as tears welled in her massive green-blue eyes. She couldn't even hear it clatter to the ground over the sound of Metatron's angel blade piercing Dean's chest. Zarya's heart sped up rapidly in her own chest. The world around her started to spin out of control. Breathing became a difficult feat as the seconds ticked slowly.

As soon as Metatron turned and saw the look on Zarya's face he realized the horrible, horrible mistake he had truly committed. How hadn't he seen it before? Regardless, it was blatantly obvious as her pain began to spiral out of control. There had been a second mark upon Zarya Vasile's soul, one that had rightfully claimed its place instead of being 'meant' to be there. It was a powerful mark, a reciprocated mark. Dean Winchester had left his imprint on her, but she also unknowingly left her own on him as well. And it was likely going to destroy whatever was left of her. He vanished quickly, leaving the siblings and the Vasile. He didn't care to be around for when Zarya lost herself.

Sam ran to Dean first. Zarya was frozen to the ground, her mind starting to crumble. She couldn't even hear Sam's failed attempts at saying they'd save Dean. She couldn't hear anything. She could just barely focus on his green eyes through the blood on his face as the light in them slowly died. He looked at Sam, and then back to Zarya before offering them both a sorrowful smile.

"I'm proud of us."

Zarya watched as the rest of the light in his eyes faded away until there was nothing left. Once the final breath escaped his lips, her knees hit the pavement. Sam looked over to her with tears on his own face as he held his bloody brother. His heart broke more when he realized just how broken she truly looked. He'd never witnessed the most horrifying look of sorrow on her face. She was starting to hyperventilate and lose all control. She took a deep breath at last, still unable to tear her eyes away from Dean, but it hadn't been to calm herself. Instead, she let out the worst noise Sam had ever heard.

Zarya screamed such a foul, terrible, pained wail that filled the city streets. She even cracked a few windows. Everything came crashing down.

Dean Winchester was dead.


	11. There's No Use Crying About It

**A/N:** _(will be the same across all three updates)_ Heyheyhey ya girl is back just as promised! I've actually been working pretty well on this so joke's on anyone who thought I gave up LOL

Not quite on the first day on spring but let's face it, if you live up north in the USA, it's not spring yet. Though I'm sure we've all heard the heart breaking news, spoiler if you haven't but we all need to know, Supernatural is ending after this fall's _fifteenth_ season. So my series won't be eternal since they wanna kill off my hopes and dreams -shrug- lmao jk for real though get the tissues. For those who care in the meantime, you've got this series! _Monster_ is kicking off with it's second half, _Dark Paradise,_ that will take care of seasons five and six of The Vampire Diaries. I will likely reference The Originals from time to time to peek in on Lethia; I have not yet decided if I'm doing a spin off.

 _Rise II: Devil in Me_ resumes here with season 10 of Supernatural. A third installment (title TBD) will cover seasons 11 and 12.

And because I realized I hadn't done much with it yet I'm gonna try to shove some of the original _Rise_ in starting today with chapter three.

Side note: there will be a new promo posted to my youtube shortly! Stay tuned for that and more updates!

Thank you to everyone who has been following and favoriting while waiting!  
Here's what you were waiting so patiently for.

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

11: There's No Use Crying About It.

Zarya thought she wanted to die after the whole Nick/Lucifer situation. It had been nine days since she watched the light leave Dean's eyes and she had no idea how she was still breathing. She didn't know why she felt such agony but she'd give anything for it to end. She contemplated opening the door to Lucifer again. Was that her own equivalent of shutting her humanity off?

She had taken off before Sam could get to her. Grabbed the bow, got to her feet, and ran without looking back. She ran until her legs and lungs wouldn't allow her to anymore, finally falling to the ground and just sobbing. She had managed to run all the way to the edge of town deep into the woods curled up in the dirt. It was daybreak when she finally picked herself up, the sunlight in her eyes waking her up. Her phone had been in her inner jacket pocket and she woke up to nearly twenty missed calls and texts from Sam. He'd wanted to give her space, but he was coming back for her.

Her heart started to pound wildly again, anxiety creeping up her spine. She couldn't bear to go back. Zarya reacted instantly by throwing the phone as hard as she could against a tree, shattering it. She grabbed her bow and took off running again. First, she found a duffel bag to hold the bow and quiver. Then she bought a bus ticket to Washington. She wanted to feel terrible for abandoning Sam, but she couldn't stand to be around anyone. Not Sam, not Runa, not Nova, especially not Lucifer. She just couldn't do it.

When she got to Washington, she got a new wardrobe. Reasons why she always kept cash in her bra on hunts. Once she was cleaned up with a bag full of new clothes and gear she kept a low profile. She slept maybe three nights, each in a different state. She had to keep moving. If she didn't then she would be contemplating which death she would prefer - suicide by her own hands, probably the revolver to her temple, or letting Lucifer and Remiel have her.

Zarya made it through Idaho and Wyoming over the course of eight days. On the ninth she made it to Hyannis, Nebraska. She wasn't sure where she was going. Mystic Falls, maybe? Could she find solace in the supernatural since she'd lost everything else? Last she had heard Nova was shredding angels without her humanity. Everything seemed to have gone quiet. Part of her wondered if Nova was better, captured, or even dead.

She hitch hiked or walked her way from Hyannis to Deverre. The sun was setting by time she got to that town; she contemplated finding a motel for the night. There were dark circles beneath her tired, withdrawn eyes. Her spark was barely hanging on, if it all. She didn't remember the last time a hair brush had been near her hair.

Walking down a slowly darkening street in Deverre, Zarya started to feel something dark creeping up behind her. She stopped under a street light clutching the strap of her bag tightly with one hand. She wouldn't have the time or cover to grab out the bow and quiver. She thought about reaching for her revolver in her belt, but even that might have been too obvious. As the sensation of being watched and followed grew stronger, something cold slid against Zarya's right arm beneath her sleeve. She almost rolled her eyes when she felt the angel blade in her hand. Whatever; it was a weapon.

Zarya whipped around with the blade out defensively. The tip stopped right up against Saskia's chest. The elder Vasile smirked arrogantly down at her. "Hello, little princess. I'm surprised you're still on your feet. Impressive."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snarled back. She was borderline feral.

"You truly are clueless, aren't you, child?" Saskia pulled back her left sleeve, showing Zarya the mirrored Mark of Cain on her flesh. It looked as though it had started to fade. "You are tempted by the darkness, are you not?"

"I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about."

"We all are, in our own ways. It's what makes us each the lethal monsters we are. It must be so difficult to be so human. All of those emotions; the pain from losing your beloved. Carina only survived because she's been a vampire a long time. I mean, there is the increasing addiction to demon blood but," she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Get to the point, Saskia. Or I'll ram this one through your heart."

"Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better, little princess. Lucifer's blade can't hurt me. But the pain of losing Dean certainly hurt you deep, did it not?"

"That's certainly none of your business."

"I can make it worth your wild, Zarya. He died with the Mark of Cain. You can die with my blood in your system. Find him again and take _my_ mark."

"Ignoring all of the bullshit, why would you give me or I would take your Mark? Let alone turn? I have no intent on becoming a vampire. Not even after losing Dean. Not ever. That'd certainly be one way to disgrace his memory."

"Sometimes I just can't take your stupidity," Saskia snarled. She slapped the angel blade away, causing it to clatter to the ground and vanish. "You think you're so high and mighty because you're still human? You are weak, Zarya." She grabbed the girl by her throat, lifting her off the ground a few inches. "I can end your life right here with a squeeze. But instead I am offering you a new life. I can teach you how to survive, make you strong. You would flourish as my sire."

A sword went piercing through Saskia's abdomen suddenly, causing her to drop Zarya. She tumbled back, catching herself just before she fell over. "She said she did not wish to turn, ever, _motina_ ," came Daciana at the other end of the sword. She ripped the blade from her mother's abdomen and kicked her in the back so she fell to the ground.

Saskia spat some blood on the pavement before glaring up at her daughter. "Says the child who helped begin the entire line of Originals."

Daciana kept her sword pointed at Saskia. She looked to Zarya with a serious expression. "Get out of here and stay safe, _sesuo_. Go!"

Zarya didn't hesitate; she grabbed her bag and took off running as fast as her legs would take her. She didn't stop until she ended up the 'Leaving Deverre' and 'Welcome to Burwell' signs. And even then she hadn't stopped until she ran into someone. Her first instinct was to jump away and keep running until she felt the warmth of the person. She hadn't felt so warm in a while. She had to force herself to back away and look up at the person, her voice and breath caught in a ball in her throat when she saw him.

Oh, God, her knees almost hit the ground again. Everything was spinning. She couldn't bear to tear her gaze away from the olive green eyes she'd seen the life leave. Tears started pouring down her face without warning. Saskia or Daciana… one of them must have gotten in her head. They were screwing with her. They had to be.

He offered his hand and a half smile. "I've missed you, Zare. Come here."

"You're not real," she gasped. "You can't be. I watched you die. I _felt_ you die. I… I watched the light leave your goddamn eyes."

"Hey," he reached out and grabbed her hand, "it's me, Zare. I promise. I'm right here."

She gave in slowly, easing her way towards him until he pulled her close and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He felt her sob against his chest and gently pet her tangled hair. "How is this possible…?"

"Don't worry about it right now, Zare," Dean leaned his chin on her head. He smirked, eyes flicking entirely black for a moment. "It's still me. I came back for you."

* * *

"You look awful."

Zarya scoffed a little, leaning back in the booth. Her leg bounced anxiously. Dean had driven her to a little diner on the highway outside of Burwell. Under the light anyone could see how distraught she really had become. "Yeah, well, this is what happened after I watched you die. Where's Sam?"

"Looking for me," he admitted. "And assumedly you."

"Why? What happened to you?" Her voice started to crack. "How do I know this isn't some overtired hallucination or sick dream because I finally fell asleep?"

He smirked at her, but not in the way she had become used to. Something had changed. "Do you really want to know the answer, Zare? Because I can promise you it's not a hallucination and definitely no dream."

She thought for a moment as she stared at him. Did she want to know? Was she better off in the dark? Dean was there, alive, sitting in front of her. Shouldn't that have been good enough? "Yes," she answered at last. "I want to know how you're alive and why we're here."

He took a sip of his coffee and looked out the window beside them. "I took you here because I found the place yesterday when I came through."

"So?"

He chuckled a little. "Did you even look at the menu, Zare? You look like you haven't eaten in a week at least."

She shrugged, looking around the diner. "I had a burger and fries the other night before I ran into the murder cousins." _Or was that the night before? What day was it anymore?_ "Haven't been hungry."

"Not even for a baked mac n cheese with seven different kinds of cheeses and three flavors of bacon?" He laughed when her face lit up and she immediately grabbed the menu. "That's why I thought of you. And looking at ya, looks like you should be able to devour the whole thing."

"Alright, fine. You can bribe me with mac n cheese." She smiled softly and rolled her eyes. "Now, the real question; how are you alive, Dean? Not even my dreams gave me this kind of solace."

The smirk returned. "Probably because it's more of a nightmare than a dream, Zare."

Zarya's entire body froze solid when his eyes turned black. Her brain literally screamed at her to get running again. Flee from the booth as fast as she could before he caught her. The Mark of Cain had turned Dean into a demon. Could she escape him if she'd wanted to? Had he already been searching for her? Surely it was no coincidence that he'd just stumbled upon her in a small Nebraska town. But good God, Gods, Lucifer, any deity, it was still Dean Winchester sitting across from her. The Dean that knew she adored overloaded, homemade mac and cheese and small diners. He was just… a little darker, more deeply feral. It was still Dean, essentially without his humanity, wasn't it? Whatever it stood to be it still wasn't much different from Nick and Lucifer or the residents of Mystic Falls.

"You're scared," he commented, breaking her from her thoughts.

Slowly but surely she dragged her eyes to meet his. They were green again, which gave her some sort of comfort. She took a deep breath and put her shaking hands around her coffee cup. "I don't know what I am," she replied in a hoarse voice before sipping the coffee. The waitress came by and Dean ordered for them, giving her an extra minute to think.

"Well, we're both running from Sammy." He spoke after the waitress walked away again. "And you know we make a damn good team."

"You're a demon," she breathed, needing to hear the words aloud.

"Technically, I'm a Knight of Hell. But, hey, semantics." He shrugged and smirked. "It's still me, Zare. I'm still Dean. Just… better. Even more fun. We don't have anything to worry about. Just stay with me and have fun. Please, Zare?"

Dean could see her melting like butter slowly. Eventually she just couldn't fight it anymore. Dean was alive. She should be thankful. He could see the defeat in her eyes and felt triumphant. "Alright, fine," she sighed. "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

"Are you mad?!" Runa exclaimed. Her emerald eyes shimmered with deep concern and fear. "Dean Winchester, now a Knight of Hell with the First Blade and you have no idea where he or Zarya is?"

Sam sighed. "She took off when she saw Metatron stab Dean… She left with just what she had on her."

"Was she at least armed?"

He laughed humorlessly. "Oh yeah, she's fine. I gave her Remiel's bow."

Runa's legs buckled and she fell back in her seat, sitting with a mortified face. "No. I know that cannot be true. Those were lost ages ago."

"Yeah, well, apparently they got dug up. The guy, Magnus, who had the First Blade also had Remiel's bow and full quiver."

Tears started to slip from her eyes. "How are you certain they're not fake…?"

"Metallic silver arrows with her sigil engraved on them all. It was Remiel's weapon."

Sam watched the tears fall silently down the woman's cheek. Suddenly her irises started to darken and her head lifted slowly to look at the ceiling of the bunker. He looked around the bunker hastily, finding the electronics starting to short. The lights began to flicker. He called to Runa who stared with great adoration at the ceiling. She couldn't hear him. A smile spread across her pale lips, tears slipping off her cheeks.

" _Yes._ "

"Runa, wait!"

He tried to dive around the table for her but it was too late; a great, golden violet light erupted and illuminated the entire bunker. Sam fell to the floor from the overwhelming light and piercing ringing. A moment later it all stopped and cleared. Some glass had shattered and scattered across the floor. Sam stood slowly, surprised his ears weren't bleeding. Runa's eyes were closed, her arms open wide. Her raven hair had fallen from its loose bun in thick waves down her back. When her eyes finally opened and made eye contact with his hazel, her irises had turned entirely black. She smiled warmly at him.

"Remiel…" He breathed, holding the table for support. "The Archangel of Hope…"

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Sam," she replied, offering her hand to shake. "We have much to discuss."

* * *

"Why is it always your solution to get me wasted when I'm depressed?" Zarya teased with a smile threatening its way onto her face.

The two had gone driving for a long while, enjoying the open road. She'd been quiet at first, gnawing on whatever was left of her thumb's nail. She heard Joan Jett come on the radio and he noticed the way she tapped her legs to the beat. It gave him an idea. Dean turned up the song and started to sing as loud as he'd turned it up to. It got her to smile at least. It took another Joan Jett song, a Motley Crue, and finally Cherry Bomb got her yelling the lyrics with him. After that she started to warm up to him again, even if slowly.

Somehow they'd ended up in North Dakota at a bar. She let him put his arm around her shoulders, thinking of the way he had at the diner before he died. She'd always reveled in how warm he was, siding right up to him. How she missed the warmth so desperately. What she wouldn't give to keep clinging to it.

Dean grinned at her when he saw a sign posted as they walked in. "How many shots will it take to get you to do karaoke?"

Her eyes widened with horror and she found the sign advertising that it was karaoke night. "Not enough, Dean. Not enough in this entire goddamn world."

"Challenge accepted then, Zare."

Zarya immediately regret her decision to stop at a bar on karaoke night with what she was silently dubbing as Demon Dean. She'd been reluctant to drink at first, but the damn bar had Nouvelle-Orleans Superieure and she couldn't resist. The first shot slid down gracefully, smoothly. She missed her higher shelf absinthe. The first had been so smooth that it was easy for Dean to convince her to take a second with him. She swore it wasn't going to be a wild night of drinking; her mind was still in shambles.

They both knew she was lying through her teeth. When they'd reached ten shots he teased her about the karaoke again.

"It's not happening, Dean," she laughed. "You've gotten me to take ten shots. Ten. I quit. I'm a quitter, okay?"

"Ah come on, Zare," he put an arm around her waist at the bar. "Sing for me."

"I did on the car ride. Not at a random bar in North Dakota."

"That's completely different. Up there you'd sing for real. Like you started to when we were driving to Indiana."

She opened her mouth to argue but closed it when she realized she didn't have one. "You may have a point, but I'm still not doing it." She smiled softly.

"Well, if you're not gonna sing," he smirked and the bartender brought out more shots.

"You know my liver can still fail and kill me, right?" She laughed before taking the 11th shot.

It hadn't been intentional, but as they drank more, more of Zarya's layers came off. First it was obviously her leather jacket, then the black hoodie she had underneath, and after the fifteenth shot she'd taken off her dark purple flannel. She hadn't been wearing a t-shirt underneath, just a black, sweetheart camisole. It had started to rise up over her hips, exposing some of her pale skin.

"Sing for me, Zare," he told her quietly in her ear with his hands so warm on her exposed hips.

Eighteen shots of her favorite absinthe she hadn't drank in some time was severely clouding Zarya's mind. She couldn't feel the pain in her chest anymore; she could barely feel anything except the warmth of Dean behind her. When her eyes fluttered back open after being closed for a moment of relaxation, they were greener than usual. A more Vasile shaded emerald with the blue undertone barely hanging on. A part of her that had been buried deep by the liquor wondered if that was how it felt to be compelled. Elijah Mikaelson had made her forget her entire life before it had truly begun. It wouldn't be that difficult for Dean to make her forget some pain and just let go.

She swore she only blinked and found herself on the stage. Her mind had to think of a song quickly that she muttered to the DJ. The music started and naturally Dean found his way front and center. Thank God for liquid courage.

" _Everybody says there's two kinds of hearts where  
_ _One loves and one goes to war  
_ _Some make peace and others get even  
_ _No solid ground to stand for_

 _Surely, it's not easy or too simplified  
_ _I'm dying while you walk away  
_ _And I, wanna put my boots on and march to the front line_

 _I will be your lover, fighter  
_ _Harder, higher  
_ _Lover, fighter  
_ _I wanna fight for lover, fighter  
_ _Under fire  
_ _Lover, fighter  
_ _I wanna fight for love, love, love.  
_ _I wanna fight for love, love, love._

 _Through the narrowing bullet,  
_ _Burn like a bullet  
_ _It was love, it was heat, it was true  
_ _We were caught in the battle,  
_ _And all of it shattered  
_ _But I'm aiming high not to lose you_

 _I know, it's not easy or too simplified,  
_ _I know but you and I are on each other's side  
_ _So, take my hand and we'll march to the front lines_

 _I will be your lover, fighter  
_ _Harder, higher  
_ _Lover, fighter  
_ _I wanna fight for lover, fighter  
_ _Under fire  
_ _Lover, fighter  
_ _I wanna fight for love, love, love,  
_ _I wanna fight for love, love, love._

 _I know, it's not easy or too simplified,  
_ _I know but you and I are on each other's side.  
_ _I know, it's not easy or too simplified,  
_ _I know but don't you know that I lay down my life?_

 _I will be your lover, fighter  
_ _Harder, higher  
_ _Lover, fighter  
_ _I wanna fight for lover, fighter  
_ _Under fire  
_ _Lover, fighter  
_ _I wanna fight for love, love, love  
_ _I wanna fight for love, love, love,_

 _I wanna fight for love, fight for love, fight for love!  
_ _(I wanna fight for lover, fight for lover, fight for lover)  
_ _I wanna fight for love, fight for love, fight for love!"_

Zarya had started to actually get into it and feel the music about halfway through. She wondered if it was a Vasile trait to be able to sing. She'd never truly tried before. Even with the drunken applause she went running off the stage. She nearly made it out the door before Dean caught her. "Come on, that was fantastic, Zare. You need to learn to just let go. What is it those Original vamps or whatever do? Shut it off? Try doing something like that."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a vampire, Dean. I have no intention on becoming one. I don't have that privileged switch to flip off."

He spun her around to the music playing a couple of times before pulling her back against his chest. "Sure you can. People do it all the time. You just have to find the right thing to fix yourself on. Lotta liquor and time with me oughta do it." He smirked.

Being just drunk enough, she gave a small smirk back up at him. "You seem overly confident in your skills."

His hands slid slowly down until they grabbed her ass. "It's not overly confident if it's truth, Miss Knows the Proper Shower Sex Technique."

She knew she was going to live to regret that comment eventually. She forced herself to focus against the alcohol coursing through her rapidly. He was still Dean. Whom she'd thought she lost. Sam might have been looking for the each respectively, but they'd only gotten her back previously because she ended up at the bar Dean was at. If she didn't want Sam to find her, or either of them, then he wouldn't. She'd turned her back on the Vasiles, locked the door on Lucifer, and had nothing else to live for. Deep down she knew how wrong the whole situation was from start to finish, but she just couldn't bear to feel anymore. Perhaps that could be her way to 'shut it off' like Nova had.

Zarya stood daringly on her toes, speaking quietly against his lips. "Let's see if you can live up to those expectations."

He smirked down at her with a great sense of pride. "Let's see if you can handle it."

She only put her leather jacket on before stepping outside. The cool air hit her and she hit the hood of the Impala with Dean's hands on her hips. It had been a secret the two planned to take their graves, but they'd shared a kiss on more than one occasion in Purgatory. That time in North Dakota had been unlike any before; more passionate, heated, possessive. She almost thought her lip might bleed.

What luck that there was a motel near the bar. It wouldn't be long before it became their little vacation spot.


	12. They Say I Did Something Bad

12: They Say I Did Something Bad.

Zarya's tired eyes peeled open when the sunlight blinded her through her eyelids. She honestly wasn't sure how to feel or what she even felt. She started by focusing her vision; she didn't recognize the room she was in at first before the events of the night prior started to come back to her. She could feel his hands all over her still. The need, the desperacy. God, she could only imagine how her pale skin must have bruised.

She had a small headache, mostly from the sunlight beaming mockingly into her eyes. She realized she was laying flat on her stomach curled around a pillow and tangled in just sheets without anything on. Both of their clothes had laid nearly shredded across the floor. She made a face when she tasted the previous night's absinthe in her mouth still. She desperately wanted a shower and toothbrush.

One hand found its way to her face and rubbed her eyes for a solid minute. She had no energy to pry herself out of the bed. _Jackass,_ she thought as her eyes fluttered closed again. She swore she wouldn't go back to sleep, just relax in the quiet until she had the energy to get up. That was when she realized she wasn't alone in the room anymore. Another door had opened, presumably the bathroom, and Dean and Crowley started arguing. And she thought her life was in shambles dealing with Lucifer.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Crowley hissed. "I go check on Hell for two days and you manage to find the devil princess?"

 _Why the fuck does he keep calling me princess?_ She wondered silently. _Thought royalty was Nova's gig._

"I was gonna eventually," came Dean's snarky reply. "Get over it, Crowley. She ditched Sammy and I found her first."

The King of Hell stared at him, flabbergasted. He had to tread carefully with the information he'd learned recently. Saskia Vasile had been bouncing around recently from leaving humans frozen soulless to angels and demons as well. She was either preparing for something, getting weak, or both. Crowley put his money on both, knowing about the second mark on Zarya's soul. How he loathed the Vasile line. A bunch of adaptive lunatics forever changing and getting stronger for the sake of their survival. If Saskia had the Mark of Cain mirrored on her arm from her bond with Cain, who was to say it couldn't be transferred just as Cain gave his to Dean?

"Have you any idea what you could have started by doing that? Bloody hell don't tell me you slept with the girl." He looked over and saw the arrow birthmark on her bare shoulder over the tangled sheet which caused him to sigh. "Dammit, Dean!"

"What's your issue? You've been more afraid of the damn Vasiles than even Lucifer. What about 'em has you quaking in your shoes?"

It took him a moment to answer. He almost wasn't going to, but Dean needed to know the severity of the issue. "They are a superior race, essentially. And they've tangled themselves so bloody deep that they're going to have little misfit allies."

"You wanna stop speaking in riddles and get to the point?"

Crowley's eyes looked to the ravenette unmoving on the bed. If he didn't see her breathe once and a while he would have thought she was dead, honestly. "Princess going to wake up anytime soon?"

Dean smirked over at Zarya, believing she was no more than an unconscious heap as he got dressed. "Nah. Not with the night she had last night."

 _I'll keep note of that, Dean,_ she thought as she remained still on the bed, just listening.

Eventually, Crowley sighed. They had to do something about Zarya. "You've heard the tale of the other breed of vampires? The Originals - the Mikaelson family?"

"Yeah, the people Saskia's kid fled to or whatever."

"They're about to receive two heirs - one from the Crescent wolf line, and one from the Kross wolf line. Now, keep up here, the Mikaelsons originally descend from witches." He held up one finger. "Daddy Original is the Original hybrid - wolf and vampire." A second finger. "And he mated with two very powerful werewolf bloodlines." A third finger.

Dean snickered a little. "So, what? Tri-bred monster babies? Losing my interest, Crowley."

"The Kross wolf is Nova Vasile's companion. Nova Vasile is immune to werewolf venom and vervain but not _atropa belladonna._ Deadly Nightshade."

"Still not hearing anything to do with Zarya or why I should give a damn."

"They're adaptive you bloody twit!" Crowley half-shouted in an attempt to not wake Zarya. "Saskia's sole purpose when she was just a little nephilim was to survive. She watched Runa and Remiel wither. She wanted eternal glory for herself. As the line descended, the need to survive became stronger. She's the only bloody human left," he pointed to the ravenette. "How badly do you think her need to survive is? What do you think her body would adapt to in order to live? She's already strong enough to house her damn archangels and have her own twisted little offspring."

"And that's why she hasn't killed herself yet. Okay, but I'm still failing to see a point here, Crowley. Maybe I should just wake her up and ask her." He smirked.

"Don't you dare wake that heathen," Crowley hissed quickly. Zarya snickered in her head. "I've caught wind that Saskia has grown weaker. That she's feeding on more souls and her mirrored Mark might be fading."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? All that power she ever wanted is starting to suck her dry and soon she won't be anyone's problem."

"Where do you think her Mark goes when it fades, Dean? Where did Cain's go? Right there on your bloody arm. You taint the last human Vasile too much and that Mark will be mirrored on _her_ arm. Too much light leaves that one and nobody knows what will happen."

Dean smirked, eyes dark and devilish. "Guess I'll have to find out." Before Crowley could yell at him, Zarya pretended to stir slowly. She brought her hand to her face as she had originally and gave a little groan. "Didn't expect you to move for at least two more hours," he teased her.

 _Yeah, I'm sure,_ she quipped. Her eyes fluttered back open and she managed to flip him the finger. "I happen to be comfortable," she opted for instead. She rolled her shoulders back first before forcing herself to sit up. Her raven hair fell down her back in a messy heap. The sunlight hit it just right to illuminate the indigo hue across each strand.

Crowley watched the way Dean's eyes traveled across the girl's curves. The sheet remained wrapped around her waist, her entire top half being exposed. She stretched and ran her hands through her knotted hair, lifting it off of her neck and shoulders occasionally. The arrow on her shoulder was as defined as the red and purple bruises on the sides of her neck. Crowley tossed a glare to Dean who smirked with pride at his work. She shook her head, feeling both of their eyes on her, and flipped them both the finger before swiping Dean's flannel off the floor. She stood with it on, the fabric just covering her rear and lady bits because she was so short.

"I'm gonna take a shower if you two would like to go back to arguing about my interrupting your apparent douche trip," she smirked and winked before darting off to the bathroom.

* * *

"You drink absinthe?" Crowley questioned with a face of disgust from the back seat of the Impala. "I'm the King of Hell and even I find that bloody disgusting."

Zarya rolled her eyes playfully and played with the end of her braid as she stared out the window. "You're a king that likes mai tai's with the cute little umbrella."

"Don't that make you a queen, Crowley?" Dean shot back at him with a smirk.

"You shut your mouth," the King hissed back. "Don't go siding with her."

"Calm your tits, Crowley. Zare's fun when she's plastered."

"Is that gonna be your hobby on our little runaway trip?" She looked up at him with a little smirk. "Pour absinthe down my throat until my liver explodes?"

"Don't you wish that was all I intend on doing to you," he smirked down at her.

"Please, I'm going to vomit," came Crowley in the back.

* * *

"Will Runa… survive you using her as your vessel again?" Sam asked hesitantly.

Remiel looked up from the book she had been reading. "No," she admitted sadly. "And I cannot stay in Runa for too long. She has far surpassed her limitations."

"How long do you think you have then?"

"Six months, maybe a year." She gave a small shrug. "It is difficult to tell. Runa Vasile is a very strong woman. She was my first vessel which allows certain privileges but with a price. If I wish to be at my full capacity, I need Zarya."

There it was. She would use Runa up and try to get Zarya. Truthfully, Sam didn't quite trust the youngest archangel yet. There was still too much to the story he didn't know or like. She was still Lucifer's ward. His most favored, loved, and trusted sister. Zarya had been designed to be his mate and her vessel. She shouldn't be subjected to either if she didn't want to just as how she refused to turn into a vampire like the remnants of the Vasiles.

"Remiel," he leaned forward on the table, "I uh, I can't really help you unless I know the whole, true story. The good, the bad, all of it. We've only been able to get pieces and a lot is still lost to history or varied person to person."

She stared at him very seriously, her dark eyes swirling with emotions. "Nothing was _lost_ to history, Sam. What has not been found or said was purposeful. My Father made a grave mistake when he created me."

Sam was taken back. "Wh-what do you mean?"

She sighed softly. "I suppose it is time to tell somebody my tale, isn't it? Father made my four brothers first, obviously. Loyalty, Light, Strength, and Joy. Something was… missing. So he tried for a fifth - Hope. He had already planned on creating humanity but needed to start with the beginning pieces. The great, explosive magic."

* * *

"So, what," Zarya started as they walked into some Minnesota bar, "we're just gonna tour the country's dive bars?"

"You got other plans?" Dean teased back with his arm around her shoulders again. "Hot date?"

"Depends on if you consider this a date or not." She winked up at him before sliding out from beneath his arm to the pool table.

" _I was supposed to be a representation of all four brothers,"_ Remiel's tale to Sam continued. " _But it's no secret that even God picked a favorite once and awhile. I took to Lucifer right away, my light shining brighter off of his. Father saw how well we worked together and made us a pair. Charge and ward."_

Zarya was laughing about winning the game when someone grabbed her forcefully by her hair and not in the way she liked. She glared up at two demons she didn't recognize. "Dean Winchester and his little human Vasile," one of them snarled. "Gonna enjoy tearing you two apart for Abaddon."

"Seriously?" The ravenette groaned. "Abaddon?"

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, come on boys. That ship sailed forever ago." He slipped the First Blade from his belt loop. "So I'm gonna gut you both for being stupid and fucking up that rat nest of hair I had to brush out earlier."

"Well you didn't exactly help the mess I had already made last night," she muttered back.

" _Before us, there was only Darkness. Father had to put it down so the light could blossom. The Mark of Cain was the seal upon it and he trusted it to Lucifer. Michael nearly pitched a fit, until he realized what was happening. I was so deeply rooted to Lucifer, always by his side, made from his very Light and Grace, that the Mark began to mirror itself on me."_

"I was gone for ten minutes!" Crowley shouted when he walked back into the bar with his phone in his hands. Two demons laid slaughtered; one on the pool table, one against the bar. Zarya had a cut on her lip and bleeding knuckles. Dean had the First Blade dripping in his hand.

The Knight shrugged and wiped off the blade. "Apparently Abaddon still has some followers beyond the grave. All the more reason Zare is staying at my side."

" _I… I started to get visions of horrible things. A malefic darkness unlike the one my Father and brothers had sealed away. It was a hungry darkness that craved wickedness I could not give. Father had began humanity and wished that we would serve them. I will never forget the anger I saw in my beloved brother then. I felt it pour onto me. I saw another vision."_

"Man, you should have seen it," Dean grinned as they hit the road again. "Zare just tossed that guy over her shoulder and broke a table. I didn't think you had it in you, honestly."

Zarya had taken her hair brush from her bag and started brushing more knots. "He messed up my hair after all we go through to tame it. I don't know what I did to get this disastrous hair. Whichever one of my parents I got it from must have suffered dearly."

"It's a Vasile trait," Crowley muttered as he stared out the back window. "So it's from your mother."

"Any other Vasile traits you'd like to share, Crowley?" Dean's eyes flicked to him through the rearview mirror.

" _All the light my Father had created was mutilated, sucked dry. The Earth was in shambles. Screaming, blood; so much blood, I tell you, Sam. But I could not find the will to tear my eyes away. The sun had become as black as my very eyes, beaming down an icy wrath. My Father's newest creation which I had barely laid eyes to was merely scattered remains across His land. Ice froze the plants, the very air. I felt as though I looked into a mirror that surrounded me, seeing my face in many different lives. Lives that scoured the land, living off of the blood and shadows. Behind them came so many with vile faces contorted."_

"I ran into the Mother and Daughter of Murder the other night," Zarya told them. "Daciana jabbed her giant sword through her mom to save me."

"What'd Saskia want with you?" Dean questioned. "Did she hurt you?"

"She tried to before Daciana showed up. She showed me the Mark of Cain fading from her arm and tried to convince me to let her turn me. Why would she do that, Crowley?"

He tried not to jump in the backseat, eyes flicking between both of them who stared ahead at the road blankly. "Why the bloody hell would you assume I know?"

" _They each looked to me with pride as blood dripped from their mouths. My wings, as corporal as my body, dragged in the blood and corpses behind me. I could feel it, even as a vision. It was the most horrifying thing I'd ever experienced. And do you know what I did next, unable to control or will? My brother joined my side. He looked down at me with the gallant blue eyes I had always adored and kissed me. I felt the blood dripping down my chin."_

"You've always looked at me like I was going to snap," Zarya replied. "Why would you think that? What do you know?"

"I know you come from a line of bloody monsters, princess."

"And then there's that; why do you keep calling me princess? That's not my gig, it's Nova's. She's Romanian royalty."

"Yes, but you're the one meant to ascent to the family throne, are you not? Archangel's perfect vessel born with nephilim blood."

"The angel blood in the family has been watered down through the centuries. I barely-"

"Holy Hell you two are either entirely daft or just don't give a damn. While that is true, what do you think gives an angel's vessel the strength it needs to contain the angel? You've got more of Remiel's essense in you than the rest of the Vasiles."

" _By time I freed myself from the vision, my brothers were fighting. I had paid no mind to it then, but as the Mark began to mirror itself onto me, it tainted my stone. The visions were a product of its Divination. It was trying to show me a prophecy. But I aimed my arrow and joined Lucifer's side against Michael and Raphael. Sweet Gabriel never should have been put in the middle…"_

The car had grown quiet before Zarya spoke again. "What if I just told Lucifer and Remiel to fuck themselves? I don't want to be a vampire, why would I want to be some archangel's bitch?"

Dean chuckled. "They'd have to find you first anyways and that's not gonna happen."

"Lucifer will never rest until he finds her," Crowley reminded him. "He will seek her out until the end of time. Whether she says yes or no to Remiel, I honestly don't think he bloody gives a damn anymore. And he'll enjoy ripping her from you the most."

" _When Lucifer Fell, it was an order that I relinquish my stone. I was going to, until it showed me another vision. The Cage. Lucifer's Cage. When I looked down, the Mark scorched bright on my own self. I took my stone and my weapon and went down to Earth myself. I was hidden for a while, hiding some of mine and Lucifer's most valued treasures. Michael was the one to put a hit on my head. I had felt when he locked the door on Lucifer and wreaked havoc for it. That was when I found Runa. And until this very moment, she did not know I had the Mark mirrored on me when she took me in."_

Zarya's back hit the wall with a loud smack, her legs tight around Dean's waist as she kicked off her boots. Crowley had made the mistake of leaving the two alone for what was left of the night. Dean kissed her wildly, nearly cutting her bottom lip. Clothes started hitting the floor one by one, almost piece by piece. Another mark left on the pale skin of her neck and a partial handprint left on her thigh.

" _It was no surprise to me that Saskia found Cain. She knew all of our secrets. She was created within us both. When Lucifer passed his Mark to Cain I felt it. It was the night Saskia was born. Over time my Mark began to fade. Saskia grew strong. But I was taking a toll on Runa and had to take my leave. Saskia begged that I take her for a vessel but I denied her. After I left it was a mere few days before the Mark was entirely gone from myself. I knew what she'd done. I knew it was the beginning of the bloodstained darkness I had felt in the vision."_

* * *

"If you knew, why didn't you do anything to stop her?" Sam questioned.

"Michael had put a hit out on all nephilim. Turned out Gabe had flown the coop as well. He could see the influence Lucifer had on me, the way I stood beside him in every fight. He could see Lucifer's own mark upon me. He couldn't risk that getting passed down and strengthened."

"But that's exactly what happened."

Remiel nodded solemnly. "I couldn't bring myself to stop Saskia, nor did I have the power to anymore. I had adapted to human life. I tossed my stone across the Earth when I realized it was feeding upon the darkness. I laid down my weapons in a tomb. With the Mark off of Lucifer and I… I hid. I remained in the shadows believing Saskia could handle the Mark just as Father believed Lucifer could. I made a mistake and now there's an entire lineage that I'm afraid is the creatures I saw in my vision."

"Had you ever told anyone about the visions? The- the Divination?"

"Lucifer, of course," she sighed. "I told him the horrendous prophecy as it burned itself into my knowledge. The innocence will be tainted, and then all light will end. Creation will live within darkness. The very air will decay, fill with Pestilence to mankind. Creatures born of the blood and night will emerge and feed. Such as our power that bound us, such as our kingdom we took, such as our kiss."


	13. I Opened Up My Soul but Demons took Cont

**A/N:** I have a bunch of chapters already written to post, so I'm sorry I don't just do it regularly/weekly lmao, I just get distracted writing new chapters LOL but I swear this is a regular thing! I'm truly seeing this through especially since Supernatural is ending after next season.

-INSERT IMMENSE SOBBING HERE-

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

13: I Opened Up my Soul, but Demons Took Control.

Well, two nights in a row made it either a conscious decision or blissful ignorance. Zarya found herself caught somewhere in the middle. She felt freer as the days (and nights) went on through the summer. Days turned to weeks and everything started to blur before her eyes. Her hair had grown out significantly, bangs starting to flip over her left eye. There was something familiar about it to Dean but the part of him to care enough to think about it just wasn't there.

"Do you have like a homing beacon to this place?" Zarya laughed a little as she stared up at the sign for North Dakota's Black Spur.

"What can I say?" He gave her a smug grin. "I liked the place."

Crowley was just as surprised when he found them at the Black Spur. The bar had a girl dancing that night and Zarya was surprised her olive eyed companion wasn't doing more ogling. At one point Crowley called him out on it. Dean shrugged and sipped his beer, glancing up at the brunette on the stage. "I know a blonde that does way better." A smirk tugged at his lips as his gaze wafted slowly to Zarya.

She poked the straw of her Sleepy Hollow around with irritation and a small glare at Dean. "Shut your pie hole. We're not bringing that up. You were enough of a smartass about it before you were a Knight of Hell, thank you very much."

"Oh but darling that sounds like the best kind of secret," Crowley smirked. "Come on, Squirrel, you know you're just itching to tell someone."

Zarya slammed her hand down on the table, shaking it and their drinks. As Dean began the story of the hunt of the stripper siren, her head lifted slowly. There was a fire in her emerald eyes. Crowley actually had to do a double take; the blue was just about smothered beneath the emerald in her irises. Something malefic flashed through them quickly. " _Ayidelemi vos tajraw_." She hissed through grit teeth, her nails digging into the wood of the table.

Crowley's eyes widened with the utmost horror across his face. Instinctively he signed a little cross over his chest. Dean's head turned to him slowly with a look of, ' _What the actual fuck just came out of her mouth?_ ' "For Hell's sake, missy, you don't use that kind of language. Especially not at the table in front of the King and Knight of Hell."

She blinked a couple of times, her eyes and face returning to normal. "What are you talking about? I just told him not to open his fat mouth."

"What _exactly_ did you tell me?" He asked.

"Don't you dare?" She shrugged.

Dean started to laugh before he swigged his beer again. "That is not what came out of your mouth."

"What did I say then?"

Crowley noticed the way she'd started to rub and scratch over her sleeved left arm. He knew he shouldn't have allowed whatever began between the two of them, but there was no arguing with Dean Winchester. He couldn't stop a damn thing. What was bound to happen would. With a straight face he told her, "I believe they gave a name for it on a TV show - the _Verbis Diablo._ "

Zarya had stared at him over her glass as she sipped her drink. "Penny Dreadful. Cute. That's like, the language of the devil, right?" She asked with a sigh. "Lame. Try another tactic." Another large swig of her cocktail.

"You know the show?" Dean laughed a little. "Sounds a little morbid for you."

"Kind of like Dahmer watching his movie, I guess. It's a TV show, it doesn't exist. You're not gonna punk me, Crowley."

"I'm not kidding, Zarya." Both of them looked at with more serious expressions and attention. "It's real. Nobody's given it a bloody name because you don't speak it. You don't say Voldemort's name in that Harry Potter business and you don't utter a bloody whisper of the string of words that came out of your mouth. You think little Remiel is almighty because she's the Angel of Hope? Lucifer's light became so warped in her that she turned into his darkness. She's not some clueless little thing like Castiel. Saskia Vasile was ruined from the start because of Remiel. Everything in her path has been there and done by her own plot."

"You plan to… _cure_ your brother from being a Knight of Hell?" Remiel questioned with skepticism.

Sam nodded, not looking up at her from his laptop. "Yeah. It's a bit of a process but we've done it before. You know what, I think I'm gonna go for a store run. I'll be back in like a half hour, alright?"

She smiled up at him as he stood. "I will let you know if I find anything."

As soon as he was outside and in his car he tried to call Cas again. It had been a few weeks since he heard from the angel. Thankfully, he answered at last. "Cas! Are you alright? I've been trying to get ahold for you for weeks."

He coughed a few times on the other line. "I'm hanging in there, Sam. What's going on?"

"You're not gonna believe this Cas. Runa had found me, first of all, right?"

"Runa Vasile? Remiel's first vessel?"

"The very one. She'd caught wind of what was going on and was hoping Zarya was with me but she wasn't. Next thing I know, she's saying yes to Remiel."

Cas sat up in his bed. "The archangel, Remiel?"

"I swear it's true, Cas. I don't know what to make of her. She's got this sob story about these horrible visions she saw before but what she said to me was essentially the same thing Saskia said in Mystic Falls. It's like a prophecy or something. And I'm assuming this was kept hush hush but Remiel also had the Mark of Cain mirrored on her arm when Lucifer had it originally. Top it off? She didn't disclose that when she used Runa as her vessel."

The angel's eyes widened. "Sam, stay away from Remiel. I will get to you. Where are you now?"

"Calm down, Cas. She's been pretty docile. I'm running to the store which is why I had a minute to talk. I just don't feel like I can trust her."

"Do not trust her, Sam. If what you're saying is true then it all makes sense now. Everything she'd done was precalculated. She manipulated the creation of the entire Vasile line and she's manipulating everything happening this very second."

In one of the back bedrooms of the bunker Remiel had a sigil drawn out on the floor in her blood. She stood in the center when she was done, holding her bleeding palm open and down at the sigil. " _Kifeti_." The blood illuminated a scarlet and lilac glow. Her irises ignited a magnificent amethyst. A devilish smile tugged at her pale lips. " _Akh. Eindi desiderari a-ta."_

What was it that kept Zarya around, she wondered? What kept her so hooked on her deluded fantasy? She had become numb entirely to Dean being a Knight of Hell. Slaying Abaddon followers was on their agenda almost every other day. She didn't have a care in the world anymore. Perhaps she had found her own switch to flip afterall.

Each day and night was almost more exhilarating than the last. It was a whole new thrill and level of ecstacy. Anyone else could see the level of possession had reached a new high. It infuriated at her, as much as she enjoyed it, that no matter how deep she could claw Dean and make him bleed that he would heal. Anybody with eyes (or ears in the motel) knew Zarya was his girl and hands off. The only hands allowed anywhere near her were his. And good God there was nowhere on her his hands hadn't been.

It had become a constant, a norm for her; blood, liquor, and sex. Normally she wouldn't have been able to keep it up as much as she had been. Taken some kind of common sense and sobriety break. But she just couldn't. Zarya had been having the time of her life. She considered herself pro at shower sex before but she was pretty sure she'd made her way to master.

Her eyes opened as she turned onto her right side, her left arm slinging across her lazily. As her vision began to focus, something stood out unusually against the pale skin of her inner arm. A shaky gasp escaped her lips when she realized what it was having burned its way into her skin. Zarya sat up slowly, trying to steady her breathing as she stared down at the mirrored Mark of Cain on her left arm. How had she not noticed? How long had it been?

No, she noticed it wanting to. The way she would scratch at her arm for no reason was the Mark staking her out. Looking for its secret entrance. She'd finally lost the final piece of her and was being dragged down through the darkness. Her emerald eyes turned vacant as the shadows crept and curved around her, tangling her and pulling her deeper. It reminded her how she got there, ecstasy sweeping across her body again.

" _I want to see you, Zare. All of you."_

Oh, God, the way he grabbed her. Her nails scratching deep down his chest. He'd finally drawn blood on her cutting both her bottom lip and a small bit of her neck. After the entire summer of their shenanigans his handprint had finally left a bruise deep in the skin of her left thigh. There was a smaller bruise on the inside of her right thigh for a completely different reason. Similar ones were scattered across her neck and chest with one even on her hip.

" _This never has to end, Zare. You and me every single day. All of this every single day."_

Her eyes had fluttered closed and she let out a small shudder as the memory washed across her. The way he kissed her, dragged his lips and hands across her skin. He tossed her around so easily and loved the enjoyment she got from it. Before, he hadn't pegged her to be so wild in the bedroom but what a surprise she turned out to be. He couldn't stop going back for more, not that she minded. It had been a surprise that night when his hand found its way around her throat just enough but he could feel the way she enjoyed it beneath him.

" _Just stay with me. And we can have whatever we want."_

When Zarya finally snapped herself back to the present she realized she was all hot and bothered again. A cold shower. She needed a cold shower.

"Oh, Sam, good," Remiel smiled up the stairs at him. She had one of the Men of Letters' files in her hands. "I think I might have found a couple of somethings for you."

He knew Cas told him not to go back, to stay away from the archangel, but he had a plan of his own. He always was sure to have the angel cuffs on hand. They wouldn't last long, but it would give him a five minute head start. He set the couple of bags down on the table and took the file from her hand. "Siya Clarke?"

"I know the names of each of my girls as an angel knows the lists of prophets. Thanks to human tradition, however, it makes them difficult to find. The changing of last names and such. Siya is a rather uncommon name, is it not? I know Siya Vasile is the one before Zarya in the order. And I believe this hunter, Siya Clarke, is Siya Vasile. Zarya's birth mother."

Sam looked over the woman's file, each fact becoming more damning than the last. Long, black hair, emerald eyes, six shot revolver, arrow birthmark on the back of her shoulder. "Clarke…" He muttered, cutting his eyes scrutinizingly at Siya's photo. He dropped the folder onto the table and grabbed out his dad's journal from a stack of books. He flipped through until he found the word he was looking for. Clarke. He let out a small scoff. "That was what the hunters called her - Clarke. He found her when he started hunting after my mom because… because it turns out they were friends." He slid out an old polaroid photo of Mary Winchester and Siya Vasile.

Remiel took the photo delicately. Her thumb rubbed over Siya's face lightly. "Siya… she had been taken from this Earth too soon. Too foolishly."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Sam eyed her carefully.

"There was a car accident. Each time one of them die I can feel it. I started to feel Zarya's life fade that night as well. I was surprised when it returned in full capacity."

"You don't know how it happened? Who saved her?"

The two had locked eyes in an attempt to find deceit in the other. It was obvious for both of them and they each knew it. "No," she finally drawled. "You were meant to be Lucifer's vessel, were you not?"

"Yeah, sorry if I burst your bubble too but it'll never happen. And actually, he was the one to save Zarya's life."

Her expression didn't change in the slightest, but Sam could see something ominous in her pitch black eyes. "Well, if he hadn't then we wouldn't have Zarya now would we?"

 _Sly,_ Sam thought with an inner eye roll. _But did you know…?_

"I had found something else as well," Remiel changed the topic. "Something in… Wisconsin." She showed him the laptop. "I think I found both of them."

He clicked on the video - security footage from a Gas-n-Sip. A young woman wearing a leather jacket with a hoodie beneath walked in and paid for gas before walking around to look at snacks. The hood hid her face, but a mess of dark hair peaked out from the sides and down her chest. A guy who had previously been in the store started following the girl around, seeming to harass her. A man wearing a hat walked in to see it happening and started a commotion. The guy grabbed the girl, yanking off her hood and revealing Zarya's face to the camera. He pulled a blade first and the latter male, whom Sam recognized easily as his brother, drew the First Blade.

A surprised gasp escaped Sam's lips when a gunshot went off. The guy grabbing Zarya let her go and tumbled backwards into a shelf, barely able to move. She turned and Sam saw the revolver in her hand. That was when Dean went in with the First Blade and finished the guy off. The clerk behind the counter started to shake. Zarya marched up to him with her revolver pointed at him. She said something to him, but not loud enough for the camera to pick up. She grabbed a couple bags of candy before lowering her gun and heading for the door. Dean grabbed a dirty magazine but she swiped it from his hands and smacked him in the head with it before tossing it to the floor.

 _What the hell did I just watch?_ He thought as he sat down slowly. "I guess I'm gonna head to Wisconsin and find out what that was about. What exactly did you plan to do while you have Runa for a vessel?"

"Runa is aware of the consequences of saying yes to me. She has made her peace. Considerably, I could very well do as I please." She resisted the urge to smirk when she saw the way Sam stiffened. "Would you like for me to accompany you to Wisconsin, Sam? Perhaps I can be of some use since I have heard Metatron stole Castiel's grace?" She shook her head. "I never did quite like him."

 _Metatron, or Cas?_ Sam wondered.

"Daciana," Zarya acknowledged with surprise when the Original was waiting in the motel lobby for her. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

The elder woman offered a peaceful smile on her wine stained lips. "I thought I might spend the day with you if you were free. Where's Dean? I understand you've been his traveling companion."

She rubbed the back of her neck and shifted her weight. "He's out for the day with Crowley. They do that, I guess. I don't know or care. I was just going for a walk around the town if you'd want to join me I guess." The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Zarya sighed. "What's this about, Daciana?"

"I just wanted to make sure we weren't being tailed," she replied quietly. "Those Abaddon followers that keep coming after you and Dean are sent by your friend Crowley. It's only a matter of time before Sam finds you both."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Her eyes darted around, searching to make sure there were no unwanted ears hearing her. She had every ward in the book on herself and her mind. "Rumor has it Remiel has taken Runa as her temporary vessel again." Zarya's eyes widened. "And Nessa and I have reason to believe Lucifer has some kind of eyes up here as well."

"Wh-what do you mean?" She stopped in her tracks but Daciana urged her to keep walking as normal.

"We each have our own connections to Lucifer and Remiel respectively. Some of us more one of them than the other. Some of us have only opened Lucifer's door. Some of us like Nessa, myself, and you. We are not certain of what we felt, but it was similar to a few months ago when he was with you through that door."

"Well he sure as hell isn't with me now if that's what you were wondering."

"I was quite certain it wasn't, but it only makes the situation more dire. Someone else does and we need to figure out who."

"If it wasn't one of us who already tapped into that then who could it have been? Who would have the strength or connection to do it?"

"It has to be someone of our bloodline or of great power with a different tie to Lucifer. Sometimes witches make deals for spells, he does have some under his thumb still."

Zarya rolled her eyes petulantly. "Yeah 'cause that totally narrows it down. He'd want to keep it close to the family, wouldn't he? Someone that works well with Vasiles but desperate enough to make a deal with the devil?" A freckled face of pink hair and blue eyes flashed through her mind curiously. "Have you ever heard the name Riel Cressida before?"

"Auriel, yes. She often does jobs for my brother Niklaus. She comes from a Moore family of witches that dabbled with Expression magic so she ran. Thanks to her magic she woke me from a spell a Moore faction had put me under and saved Lethia Kross' life by turning her into a hybrid."

Something clicked in the younger and human ravenette. "You'd need some pretty big and bag mojo for that stuff, wouldn't you? Speaking of which, a conversation I wasn't supposed to overhear mentioned something about a Mikaelson child?"

Daciana laughed a little. There was a great uncertainty on her face, but a light in her eyes. "Two, actually. If you can believe it. Apparently Niklaus couldn't keep his hands to himself." She shook her head disapprovingly.

"Are they really gonna be, like, super kids?"

"Witch, werewolf, and vampire. Naturally the Mikaelson family could manage such a feat. There's a lot of very upset people and creatures out there."

"So, what? You're gonna be an aunt?" She snickered a little. "Aren't you like, a thousand years old?"

She chuckled rather ominously, though Zarya seemed to pay no mind to it. "Let me tell you, the handful of experiences I have had with babies in such a time frame has not been good. Not one of them. Children loathe me. That's why I decided to become a vampire with the Mikaelsons. They'd taken me in and kept me safe when I needed on strange land."

"Actually, can I… can I talk to you about something? About one of your brothers?"

Daciana raised a brow questioningly. "Which brother? Niklaus is notorious for trouble, but Kol was always a wild one."

"Elijah, actually. He… I found out he was the one that compelled me after Katherine Pierce ran my parents' car off a bridge."

She resisted the urge to stop as Zarya had earlier. "Elijah? You're certain it was Elijah?"

Zarya stuffed her hands in her pockets and nodded. "The compulsion started to break in pieces. I saw him. His voice was calming. I was crying and he gave me a handkerchief with your family crest on it. I also noticed the 'E' engraved on his cuff links."

She sighed. "Then he was doing a favor for Katerina. They have always had some sort of odd relationship on and off. Would you… would you maybe want me to remove the compulsion entirely from you? One fell go might be easier to bear than bits and pieces at random."

"Could you get me back to the motel before Dean? If he sees that I'm gone he'll start shredding North Dakota."

"So it is true; Dean Winchester is a Knight of Hell now?" Zarya nodded solemnly. Daciana had thought that was what she felt coming off of the young Vasile. Fearfully, she grabbed the girl's hand. "Come with me and close your eyes."

Daciana used her inhuman speed to take them away from the crowds without being seen. The two stopped deep in the woods, away from any prying ears. Zarya only looked sick for a brief moment before she composed herself. "Let me see your arm, Zarya," the Original vampire practically demanded.

She took a few steps back, her boots crunching the leaves beneath them. "Why?"

"Your left arm, take it out of your sleeve. Now, Zarya. Or I will compel you to do it. It's easy for one Vasile to do to another."

With a huff and some dramatization, Zarya pulled her left arm from all three of the sleeves she wore. Against her pale white skin the Mark of Cain burn mirrored onto her. "Are you happy now that you could see it with your own eyes?"

"I needed to know before I removed the compulsion Elijah put upon you. That Mark was burned the same way into my mother. It is what caused your current lover to be _what_ he is. That is barely your Dean anymore, if at all, Zarya. You took the leap into the darkness. You are numb. So this is going to hurt you even more when you least expect it to, child." She stormed up to Zarya, grabbing her face with both of her manicured hands. Her irises darkened until they were violently black and corrupting Zarya's as well. "Remember everything my brother Elijah once forced you to forget. Everything before, during, and after the car accident. Remember who you are, Zarya Vasile."

Her lungs felt like they were freezing over slowly. Like ice was spreading through her piece by piece. Her brain started to fall apart in shambles on the inside. Heart pounding just about out of her chest. Blood rushed to her head all at once, making it throb violently. Daciana stepped away from her and Zarya remained frozen in her place. Her knees started to buckle, then she let out vehement scream through the trees.

She started to remember everything. Day by day, year by year before her eyes all over again. Siya's bright green eyes burned into her own, the woman's warm smile melting the ice away. Each of her birthdays played again, the once dance recital she ever tried. The summer beach trip with the Rowells. Every hug and kiss goodnight. Then there was tires screeching and a woman's figure in the road. Siya unbuckled her seatbelt and whipped around as fast as she could to do the same to her child's. Nikolas Maxwell yelled to both of them with tears down his own face. He knew.

Siya held her daughter's face in her hands one final time with tears streaking her cheeks. "Survive, Zarya Vasile. Survive and be proud of who you are."

Zarya let out another scream and fell to her knees. She was panting and sweating, tears mixing with the sweat. She had hoped that was all, but more and worse returned to her. She felt the water filling the car again. It had been so cold, chilling her right to the bone. There was a shattering sound echoing through the glass and she was being pulled forward. She struggled as she was forced out of the windshield and got a small scar on her right rib cage. With the compulsion breaking she felt the glass slice her skin open all over again. She was bleeding into the water and running out of air. No matter how hard she tried to swim, her eyelids grew heavy and vision dark. Her tiny form started to drift away from the car slowly.

Next thing Zarya knew it was dark. Not a blackout kind of dark, but the creepily lit kind of dark. At six years old her little eyes thought she was in some kind of scary movie she wasn't allowed to watch. When she sat up at last she saw a massive, rotted cage. The sky was red, which gave the place the eerie darkness, and thunder rolled across regularly. She found herself standing beside her six year old memory, staring up at the cage with fearful eyes. She watched her younger self bravely approach the bars to see if anything resided inside. She could barely see through the darkness when scarlet eyes illuminated before dimming to a blue hue.

"No," she breathed, taking a step back. She watched herself raise a small hand up to the bars slowly. "No!"

She was thrust back into her body harshly and started to gasp. Tears were still pouring down her face. Daciana knelt down to her slowly. "Zarya? Are you alright?"

Her still barely blue tinted green eyes looked up to her ancestor. "You… you picked a favorite of your siblings, didn't you? One of your brothers you'd just die for and you don't quite get why?"

Daciana ignored the dirt and sat down, taking the girl into her arms. She was quiet a long while, listening to Zarya sob and sniffle. "Niklaus," she finally answered barely louder than a whisper. "The way Mikael always treated him was unacceptable. Then to find out it was because Niklaus was not his and born with the werewolf gene…" she shook her head. "Even Esther had her hand, forcing him to wear a talisman before doing a spell that locked away his werewolf half. I felt his anger, his cause. Niklaus is the reason I still care to survive after a thousand years."

 _You did this, didn't you, Remiel?_ Zarya thought as she continued to cry. _This was all you from the start. You planned yours and Lucifer's eternal survival and rise to power. We're all just pawns in your game…_

* * *

 **After notes:** So the Verbis Diablo in Penny Dreadful is a legit thing, but I had to do it my own way because there aren't real translations and whatnot -shrug-  
I'm trying to make it a mildly regular thing, and I'm trying to keep it as a cross language with Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Arabic. It just depends what words I can find for the English words I need. And everything is from Google so I'm sorry if there's a miscommunication in translation; I will always _try_ to put what I use in after notes!

 _Akh. Eindi desiderari a-ta_ **-** Brother. I have missed you **-** Hebrew. Arabic Latin Hebrew


	14. I Went Tumbling Down Trying to Reach

**A/N:** So I was going to post a chapter of this and a chapter of _Dark Paradise_ , but then I realized _Dark Paradise'_ s chapter was a bit ahead and therefore I had to post 13 & 14 of _Devil in Me_ and the next chapter of _Monster II: Dark Paradise_ will be coming soon!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

14: I Went Tumbling Down Trying to Reach Your High.

"Oh, yeah. Possessive boyfriend was an animal. Bro came at him like, "what?!" and he was all like, " _wh-a-a-at_?" "say my name! Say my name! Say my name." And there was a lot of blood."

Sam and Remiel stared at the clerk with mixed expressions. "Right," the hunter started. "Um… When the guy, uh - when - "possessive boyfriend" came in, did he… say anything?"

"He came busting in the door for the chick like he'd been watching from outside."

"So some guy comes in, kills another guy in your store on your watch, and you just - you what? Just keep on keepin' on?"

"You mean when possessive boyfriend was stabbing the other guy to death 10 feet in front of me, and I was having a total code-brown moment in my favorite freakin' pants because I thought I was next, did I conduct a field interview? ...No."

Remiel tried to offer a small smile. "Why exactly do you refer to him as "possessive boyfriend", Mickey?"

He shrugged. "It was pretty obvious. I mean, it was hard to see before that other guy pulled off her hood. But she had hickeys like all over her. And she pulled that gun and then he came running in like they were Bonnie and Clyde. Oh, hey. Uh, can you do me a solid? Found this wedged under the T.P. I think it's the dead guy's phone, and, uh, if you're heading back to the station…" He handed Sam a cell phone.

"So Dean and Zarya are some sort of item now," Remiel commented outside. "Sam, can you tell me honestly if you know of any strong emotions your brother felt towards Zarya before he became a Knight?"

Sam straightened up and stopped momentarily as he was scrolling through Drew Neely's phone. "I swore to my brother I'd never say anything. It's something we're taking to the grave."

"Don't you suppose Dean already did that? I need to know, Sam."

"Why? Because of the Mark of Cain?"

"Yes, actually. It mirrored onto me because I loved my brother too dearly. I was a part of him as he was of I. The night Saskia came into this world he passed the Mark to Cain. My technical daughter had children of her own with the Mark bore into her flesh as it had mirrored from Cain. If Zarya is as possessively marked as Mickey in there said she was then I fear that Saskia no longer seeks your brother's attention."

"You think it transferred its way onto Zarya…"

She nodded solemnly. "Our curse is temptation of the darkness. The Mark of Cain gave Dean back as a Knight of Hell. It's essentially walking darkness. Tempt the girl that watched you die with some human vices and she too succumbs to the Mark. So tell me honestly, Sam. Did Dean have feelings at all for Zarya while he was human?"

Something still just didn't sit right with Sam. "What does it matter how Dean felt if Zarya's the one being tempted by his darkness?"

"The Mark can only mirror itself onto one's other half. The other person compatible to their soul. The Mark will only transfer from Saskia to Zarya if there's a stronger bond between Dean and Zarya than there is to keep the Mark on Saskia."

Sam sighed and rubbed his mouth and chin. "They've always… he…"

 _Come on, Sam,_ the angel though impatiently. _You have nowhere to go but to admit it to me._

"Alright, fine," he gave in dejectedly. "Dean's in love with Zarya. And he's going to murder me when I cure him and he finds out I said something."

"How long?" She asked softly with a hand on his shoulder.

"Since we put Lucifer back in the Cage. He only admitted it to me after they were trapped in Purgatory together. She had really nasty night terrors for months after because of the separation. But, ah," he smiled a little at the memory, "Dean would curl up right beside her or cradle her and she'd sleep right through the night. He trained her in the field, how to be a hunter. Then she chased after him when he went to kill Dick Roman and the both of them ended up in Purgatory for about a year."

"Purgatory is meant for monsters when they die."

"Yeah, they had to fight every second of each day they didn't know was passing. When they found their way home I could tell, if it was possible, that he loved her even more."

"Why did he never act if he felt so strongly about her?"

"I still don't even know everything that happened that year in Purgatory, but he keeps telling himself he can't. She never chose to get tangled up in the supernatural, Lucifer business especially. He wants to make sure she gets the best chance at life the way she wants to do it. Not the way she's supposed to. He never wanted to make anything difficult or confusing for her."

"What do you think curing him will do, Sam? He'll know what he did; what _they_ did. What do you think he will do then?"

Sam ignored her question and called the number that had texted Drew about Dean's location. "You're dead," came Crowley on the other end.

"Nope. Just using a dead man's phone."

"Moose. Took you long enough. Your brother and I were beginning to wonder if you'd hit another dog. You know?"

"I know Zarya is with you both now, Crowley. And the, uh, Abaddon supporters you've been sending to kill my brother, how does Dean feel about that double-cross?"

"If that's what you think is happening, then you're more out of your depths than I thought. As for the little Vasile, I assure you it was no intention of mine. But it turns out your brother will barely let the girl out of his reach."

"I am going to find you, I am going to save my brother and Zarya, and then I'm going to kill you dead, Crowley."

"Well, that's the operative phrase, isn't it? "Find you." good luck with that."

Crowley hung up and Remiel thought that was the end of it until Sam's phone chimed on the hood of his car. It had been just enough time to track his location right to North Dakota.

* * *

"You sent those demons after Zare and I," Dean stated when Crowley joined him at the bar.

The King noticeably stiffened. "To keep you sharp. I hadn't planned on the little Vasile joining us. Guess they don't care for the family. How'd you find out?"

"Daciana, actually," came Zarya's voice. He looked and found her hidden beside Dean at the bar. "You're not the only one with eyes around."

"I needed to keep you sharp for our future, about which we need to talk."

"Our future?" Dean scoffed.

"Our professional future. How to put this? If I have to spend one more night in this fetid petri dish of broken dreams and B.O., I will cut off my own face."

"Get cutting then," came a dark tone out of Zarya's mouth.

Crowley looked shiftily between the two, taking a careful step away. "Oh, did I forget to mention I spoke to moose earlier?"

" _What?_ " the ravenette hissed, getting out of her seat. Dean held his arm out and stopped her before she passed him.

"Yes. Uh, apparently, he's been tracking us for some time now. He got my text from the cell of that demon that you stabbed in blah, blah, blah. It was - words were spoken - emotions. I realize, in retrospect, perhaps too many words, too many emotions." The King shrugged.

"He traced the call," Dean concluded.

"My bad. I guess he'll be here by morning - the latest."

Darkness swirled in Zarya's dangerously emerald eyes, a low growl emitting from deep in her throat. " _A-ta yamlik nihil ḥāsabi ma vos āle factum!_ " She hissed with venom.

Crowley took a larger step back away from the girl. The words that came from her mouth made his skin crawl. She was getting darker. He needed to find out if Saskia still bore her mirrored Mark or not. Without another word he vanished, glad to be away from Zarya quite frankly. He was storming his way down the halls of Hell when one of the demons caught up to him. It hadn't been news about Saskia, but even worse than that.

"S-sir, I have word that Remiel has taken use of her former vessel again. Runa Vasile."

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the demon. "Bloody Remiel walks the Earth?"

"Y-yes, sir. But that's not quite all…"

"Unless somebody has found Saskia Vasile-"

"It's Lucifer, sir. He's got a tether outside of the Cage like when he latched onto Zarya Vasile. In a way, he is also walking the Earth…"

"Tell me you know who bloody Lucifer is puppeting around in."

"Auriel Cressida. The rogue Moore witch."

* * *

"Alright," Dean finally spoke after they'd been driving for a little while. "Let me see your arm."

Zarya groaned and rolled her eyes. "You too?" She grumbled, staring out the window into the dark of the night.

"Let me guess, Daciana earlier?"

She yanked off her jackets and flannel and showed him the reflected Mark of Cain on her arm. "She needed to see it on me before she broke her brother's compulsion. I saw it this morning when I woke up."

He smirked as he stared ahead at the road. "Guess you're really stuck with me now, Zare." His phone started to ring, breaking the silence in the car. They both read Sam's name across the screen. He answered, the phone loud enough for both of them to hear. "I left you an open tab at the bar. Knock yourself out."

"Well, hell, I just may take you up on that." A voice that was not Sam's spoke.

Both of them made a face when they didn't hear Sam's voice. "And who is this?" Dean questioned.

"Me? Well, I'm karma, brother."

"On my brother's phone?"

"On your brother's phone."

"Is he dead?"

 _Look at that face, Zarya,_ her mind told her. _Look at the way it doesn't express concern for Sam's life. Can you honestly look into those eyes that can turn black and keep calling him Dean?_

"No. Not yet. And as long as you show up where I tell you to show up, your brother will be just fine."

"And how do I know he's still alive?"

 _Why did you have to look for us, Sam?_ She thought, looking away when she heard Sam get hit for proof of life. _Why couldn't you have tried for your happily ever after this time?_

"Got a pen?"

"No." Zarya's attention whipped to Dean suddenly. "You listen to me. There's no trade. There's no meet-up. There's no nothing - except the 100% guarantee that, somewhere down the road, I will find you, and I will kill you."

The line was quiet for a moment. "Well, that'll be a cold comfort to your dead brother."

"I told him to let me go. So whatever jam he's in now, that is his problem."

"Yeah, well, I'll be sure to pass that on to him as I'm slitting his throat."

"Yeah, you do that, 'cause he knows me. And he knows damn sure that if I am one thing, I am a man of my word." He ended the call and tossed the phone onto the dash, not removing his eyes from the road.

Zarya looked up to him with pain in her eyes. _How could we have fallen so far, Dean…?_

* * *

Sam called Cas as soon as he got away from Cole. "You need to get to Beulah, North Dakota - now."

"I do?"

"Yes. Crowley and Dean were there. They have Zarya and she might have the Mark of Cain mirrored on her arm like Saskia did because if Zarya does then Saskia doesn't anymore."

"Sam, slow down. Zarya was with Dean and Crowley?"

"Yeah, it's not looking good. Cas, listen. I know you're not feeling so hot, but this is kind of an "all hands on deck" situation here, so…"

"So... I'll meet you there. Where is Remiel?"

He sighed as he stared at the road. "I… I don't know. When Cole got the jump on me she vanished."

"The angels are looking for her. Word has spread that she took Runa as her temporary vessel once again. The hunt is on for Remiel and Zarya. The angels… they will not allow Remiel to have her true vessel. They will kill her and Zarya without hesitation."

Sam scoffed. "Don't worry, it doesn't look like Dean has any intention on allowing anyone to lay a finger on Zarya."

"What was the other thing you mentioned about the Mark of Cain on her?"

"Apparently when Lucifer had it, it mirrored onto Remiel because of how attached they were. She didn't tell Runa about the Mark on her when she took refuge in Runa the first time. Saskia was born the night Lucifer passed his Mark to Cain. Saskia found Cain and took the Mark mirrored on herself. When Dean took the Mark from Cain, he left it open for Zarya to be able to absorb Saskia's mirror with the right circumstances because who, at this point, doesn't realize they're in love with each other?"

Cas was still and quiet, realizing what Sam meant. Even he, as oblivious as he generally was, had known for sometime about Dean and Zarya. "Sam, this is more serious than we thought. If the Mark mirrors itself onto Zarya then the same rules will apply to her; she will need to kill and feed the Mark. I will be there as soon as I can."

* * *

"Dean, where are we?" Zarya asked with increasing nervousness.

"I made a call," he answered, leading her through a warehouse. "Crowley wants to send demons for me to kill because the Mark of Cain requires it. Welcome to the club, Zare." He smirked at her. "Kill or the Mark wears you down to death."

She turned to argue with him but remained quiet when he tossed her a machete. _Her_ machete. She started to hear snarling coming out of the shadows of the warehouse. "Dean," she pleaded quietly. She knew better. She knew that would be the final straw. The final chain to break before she was spinning and speaking in tongues all the time. "Don't make me do this. Tell me that you'll stop. Tell me that you can stop."

He reached out and touched her face gently. He smiled at her, but she could see the darkness in it. "I will never stop, Zare."

Zarya heard the snarling growing louder. Vampires. It must have been an entire nest. She closed her eyes as they started to well with tears, flashes of the demons Lucifer had her kill coming back to her memory. Her arm started to tingle and burn. She knew it was the Mark. Her time was running out and she had already long since lost the will to fight.

"We're comin' to get ya, little girl! And we're gonna enjoy tearing ya apart!" One of the vamps in the darkness shouted.

She inhaled a deep breath, hand tightening around her machete. When her eyes opened, they glowed magenta passionately. "You just try," she breathed.

She had been off in a flash, dodging their grabbing hands and starving fangs. One by one heads rolled across the floor. Blood splattered across the entire warehouse, drenching Zarya from head to toe. She hacked each one until there were no vampires left in the entire warehouse. When it was finally quiet, Dean looked up at her. She literally dripped with blood, from her hair and off her hands. It splattered across her face like war paint. A smug grin spread across his face, proud of what he had done.

* * *

Zarya couldn't say she was terribly surprised to end up back at the Black Spur with Dean once she'd gotten cleaned up. They were closed, but the bouncer remembered the two and let them in for some peace and quiet. She wasn't sure when he ended up at the piano and she laid across the bar. He just sat there and tapped a key occasionally. "Can you play the piano, Zare?" He finally found himself asking.

She stared up at the ceiling with vacant eyes. "I never learned, so I don't assume I do. Nova does though. She's apparently some prodigy."

"You can sing though."

She almost hadn't heard him. She wanted to let the comment make her smile but she just couldn't find the strength to. Every inch of her was numb like she was high.

"Hiya, Sam."

Zarya found the will to sit up then, meeting gaze with the hazel eyes she hadn't seen in months. "Sam," she spoke in a soft murmur.

The younger Winchester noticed the way a shred of light tried to spark again in her eyes when Zarya saw him. He knew it had been hope. Zarya knew they were able to cure demons. She knew somewhere in her that Sam was there to save them both. That they could all go home again. "Your, uh, pal Crowley… Sold you out."

Dean shrugged and stood up from the piano bench, grabbing the First Blade from the top. "Sounds like him."

Sam took a cautious step backwards. "Dean, hold on a second. You don't have to do this. Look, we know how to cure demons. You remember that?"

"Little Latin, lot of blood. It rings a bell. Did you ever stop to think that if I wanted to be cured, I wouldn't have bailed?"

"That was Crowley."

He smiled arrogantly. "It really wasn't."

"It doesn't matter, all right? 'Cause whatever went down, whatever happened, we will fix it. You were the one to find Zarya yourself, weren't you? What made you do that then?"

"Simple - she's _mine_. End of story." Sam noticed the surprise that flooded Zarya's face when she heard it as well. "And there's nothing to fix. 'Cause right now, I'm doing all I can not to come over there and rip your throat out… with my teeth. I'm giving you a chance, Sam. You should take it."

He looked between his brother and Zarya. She really did look terrible. Her hair was entirely out of place, looking like it hadn't seen a brush after a shower. Her eyes were exhausted and devoid of almost all of her spark. She wore ripped blue jeans, a tight black tank top that didn't even cover her stomach, and one of Dean's flannel shirts. He could see a couple of hickeys still bright against her skin and what almost looked like a hand print having started to bruise on the sides of her throat.

"I'm gonna have to pass."

"Well, I'm not walking out that door with you. I'm just not. So, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna kill me?"

Zarya's nails reactively dug into the wood of the bar.

"No," Sam answered quick.

"Why? You don't know what I've done. I might have it coming." Dean's eyes flicked over to Zarya for a second before looking his brother in the eye again. "I really might."

 _You know,_ she thought as the light fought to return into her eyes. _You know what you've done. What we've done. You are still in there, aren't you, Dean…?_

"Well, I don't care. Because you are my brother. And I'm here to take you home."

Dean started to laugh and mocked his brother. "'You're my brother, and I'm here to take you home.' Yeah, what is this, a Lifetime movie? Huh? With your puppy-dog eyes? Oh, thanks, Sammy. I needed that." The hazel eyed brother pulled out handcuffs engraved with sigils on them. "You really think those are gonna work?"

"There's one way to find out."

Zarya jumped off the bar to jump between them before they could start to fight when a tear gas bomb flew into the bar. Sam and Zarya started to cough and wheeze. Dean hastily slid the First Blade into his belt and grabbed the ravenette into his arms. When she started to breathe right with the fresh air he set her down on her feet. She saw Cole behind him first. "Dean," she panted, still catching her breath and pointing behind him.

"Wow. It's really you," he told Dean when he turned around.

Dean took a couple of steps toward him. "We met?"

"Talked on the phone."

"Right. Right. You're the guy who's supposed to put a bullet in Sammy's brain. Did you miss?"

Zarya bit her lip and ducked around the corner in search of Sam. When she felt someone behind her, she whipped around with her revolver drawn. At the end of barrel stood a pink haired Riel. "Riel," she breathed with relief at first, gun starting to lower. Then the ravenette saw something in her eyes all too familiar and everything clicked. Her gun went right back up. "Riel…"

"Come on, sweetheart, we both know everything just came together for you. I have been in that scattered mess, if you recall."

"How?" She hissed through grit teeth, refusing to lower her gun even though she knew she'd only kill Riel. "How did you get her to say yes?"

"You see, Rya, that's the fun part: I didn't have to. Auriel here owed me a debt. I called upon that debt. I gotta say though," she looked at her hands with pride, "it's a change being in control of a rather powerful witch. She's a Transmutation specialist you know." Her hair began to lighten until it was snow white, eyes lightening to grey. "She constantly changes her appearance at will."

"What are you doing here?" Zarya asked quickly, her finger shaking on the trigger.

"Oh come on, Rya, put that thing down. We both know if anybody is going to murder Auriel it would be Dean. If only you could get his attention before Sammy gets him." Her appearance began to change, features contorting. Zarya took a couple of fearful steps back as Riel became taller than her. Even the clothes changed. When it was finally done, she was staring back up at Nick's eyes that Lucifer had taken again. In one swift movement he knocked the gun from he hand and pulled her tightly against him. Something malefic danced playfully in his dark blue eyes.

"They aren't coming to save you this time, Rya."

In a flash, they were gone without a trace. Except Zarya's revolver on the ground.

* * *

 **After notes:**

 _A-ta yamlik nihil ḥāsabi ma vos āle factum_ **-** You have no idea what you have done **-** Hebrew Arabic Latin Amharic Hebrew Latin Amharic Latin


	15. Keep Your Voice Down or He'll Hurt Me

15: Keep Your Voice Down or He'll Hurt Me.

When Zarya's eyes finally pried open, she found herself lying on a cold metal floor. It was pitch black but she felt cuffs around her wrist. Chains dangled off of them. She followed them to a thick hook in the floor. They gave her maybe two feet of slack which was enough to reach a couple of metal walls. She figured she must have been in a shipping container or safe of some sort. There was nothing for her to do but sit on the floor in the dark.

" _They aren't coming to save you this time, Rya."_

She hugged her knees to her chest, limbs beginning to quake. Sam would have gotten Dean, right? Brought him back to Kansas and cured him. Even if Dean killed the other guy and escaped Sam then he'd still hunt her down until he found her. It was just a matter of time. One of the Winchesters would find her. She could handle sitting in the dark in chains until then. She jumped to her feet when locks began clicking from the outside. The door opened, light pouring in slowly. She had to block her eyes for a second to adjust but her heart dropped when she saw who was standing in the doorway. Truthfully, she knew she should not have been so surprised.

Lucifer stepped in and flicked a switch, one singular light bulb turning on right above the hook that secured Zarya's chain on the ceiling. The door shut behind him as he eyed her. "You're afraid." Slowly, a twisted smirk spread across his face. "Good. That's good that you know your place then."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" She questioned, backing away as far as she chain would allow her. She could feel the cool metal wall through Dean's flannel.

He advanced toward her slowly, threateningly. "You stepped against me, Rya. You failed your mission entirely. And to top it off," with a wave of his hand Dean's flannel was off of her and on the floor. The Mark of Cain burned bright red against her flesh. "Crowley tried to warn you, he had enough brains to do that. I will never stop coming for you, Rya. Dean Winchester was quite wrong." He grabbed the chain, watching her eyes widen with fear, and yanked it towards him. She was dragged forward, landing with her neck and chin in his hand, knees just barely off the floor. "You, are _mine_ , Rya." He growled, eyes flashing scarlet. "I'll tear your sweet Dean's heart from his chest if he dares think otherwise."

She looked at him from the corners of her eyes, her cheeks partially smushed in his hand. Her heart was about to stop from beating so fast. "So what is this?" Her voice was small. She knew the answer, but she needed to hear it.

Lucifer raised her without crushing her windpipe, picking her up just off her feet. "This is the part where I have to break you, Rya. And I've got to say, I'm not expecting it to be that difficult."

* * *

"I can't stop doing this," Sam reminded both of them after dosing Dean again.

He snarled, strapped to the chair. "Sure you can. You just stop! There's no point in trying to bring your brother back now."

"Oh, I will bring him back."

"In fact, your uh… guilt-ridden, weight-of-the-world bro has been M.I.A. for quite some time now. But I'm loving the new model: Lean, mean, Dean."

"Right."

"You notice I tried to get as far away from you as possible? Away from your whining, your complaining. I chose the King of Hell over you! Maybe I was just… tired of babysitting you. Or always having to yank your lame ass out of the fire since…" He laughed. "Forever. Or maybe … Maybe it was the fact that my mother would still be alive if it wasn't for you. That your very existence sucked the life out of my life! But Zarya," he smirked. "I went back for her. I hunted her right down. Maybe I knew she'd be just as fun to bring on the darkside, maybe I just knew she'd be great in bed. Either way I was right."

"This isn't my brother talking."

"You never had a brother! Just an excuse for not manning up. But guess what: I quit."

"No. No, you don't. You don't get to quit. We don't get to quit in this family! This family is all we have ever had! You need to be cured so we can find Zarya before-"

"What the fuck do you mean 'find Zarya'? Where the fuck is she, Sam?"

"I… I don't know. After I got you down, cuffed, and in the car I went looking around the bar quick for her." He looked away. "I found her gun on the side of the building…"

Sheer, unmasked rage burned through Dean. He didn't even notice when Sam stuck him with another syringe of blood and left. Zarya was missing. She didn't have her gun. The bow was in the trunk of the Impala. His eyes flashed black and he yanked his hands against the restraints, shattering them. Zarya could be anywhere; anyone could have her if they found her. Sheer rage flooded through Dean at the thought.

* * *

Lucifer had started with a trip down memory lane, relishing in Daciana having broken the compulsion fully. He taunted her with the innocence of her childhood before showing her the night the shot from the Colt killed Nick. She watched, over and over, as Dean pulled the trigger. Then she had to watch Dean die and feel the agony all over again. It took more out of Zarya than he thought it would so he gave her a little break. He had to decide what game was next anyways.

Zarya had laid on the cold floor with a throbbing head and tearstained face. She let out a small whimper when the door opened again. She wanted to kick herself; had she really given up that easily? No, she just had to hang on. Grit her teeth and take whatever Lucifer could dish out. Either Sam and Dean would find her or she'd find her way out. She had to. She wouldn't allow her fire to die, and it wasn't going to. The fire that burned so bright in her was just darkening in hue.

She dragged herself to her feet and looked him in the eyes. As the door shut behind him, he smirked. "On your feet. Impressive. So you do still have some fight left in you. Good, Rya. I was afraid I'd get bored."

"Go ahead," she hissed back. "Do your worst. I'll keep bouncing back."

"Oh, I'm counting on that. You see, I haven't quite gotten the hang of Riel's magic. Moore witches are fickle creatures. I thought I might get some practice in. You haven't had a run in with a real witch yet. Not a Moore, not even the little Bennett bitch. You're still so clueless, Rya."

Zarya took a breath and prepared for the worst. Anything could come from magic, especially if he didn't know what he was doing with it. She stared at his open palm, the breath caught in her chest. At first nothing happened and she hoped Riel's magic might have rejected him or something. Next thing she knew, blood was pouring out of her mouth. She was choking on it, coughing it out desperately. It felt like her lungs were filling with blood. Weighing them down, suffocating her slowly. She started to fall, her knees buckling, but she refused to let herself drop. After a minute of spewing blood it all just stopped.

"We don't have to go through this, Rya." He leaned against one of the walls with his arms crossed over his chest. "You just need to let me back in so we can find Remiel and break the lock on the Cage."

She wiped her chin with the back of her hand as best as she could and cut her eyes at him. "So I can say yes to her and you two can do who the fuck knows what kind of shenanigans? I don't think so. Like you said, I'm still so clueless." She spat a mouthful of blood left in her mouth at his feet.

He lifted his hand, slowly crushing his fingers around nothing. Zarya felt like he might as well have been stomping down on her throat. "I can understand why you wouldn't want to jump into anything, Rya. I told you I'd never lie to you and I haven't. Remiel is already on this Earth."

When he dropped his hand she could breathe again. Though the news of the other archangel seemed to take her breath away as well. "Wh-what…? No." She choked and coughed for a solid minute.

"What part of 'I'd never lie to you' can you not get through your thick skull? She's using Runa again. Temporarily. Before she explodes." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Explodes?!"

"Well, yeah. Runa already held Remiel for a long time. When Remmy left her she became weak and decayed ridiculously slow. Then you recharged her batteries so Remmy could get another year or so out of her." He smirked.

"I don't give a damn. That's bullshit. There's no way for you to know that."

"But isn't there, Rya? She was my ward, my other half. You don't think I'd be the first to know when she took a vessel on Earth?" He advanced towards her dangerously. "I knew the first time, and I'll be right there for the last when you say yes to her."

She dared to look up at him defiantly. "You'll never get that satisfaction. You'll have to kill me."

"You overestimate yourself and those Winchesters, Rya. They're not coming for you this time." His hand shot out and grabbed her face. "They're not coming for you ever again. It's just you, and me until the end of time, Rya."

* * *

The keys fell from Sam's hand onto the floor when he found Dean missing. He flew to a switch and flipped it. Everything shut down suddenly, red lights flashing and an alarm blaring. Down the hall, Dean was kicking in doors. "Smart, Sam! Locking the place down. Doors won't open. I get it. But here's the thing: I don't want to leave! Not 'til I find you!"

He kicked open a third door, realizing it had been Zarya's bedroom. He stepped in and looked around the completely untouched room. Even her teddy still laid on her unmade bed. "Zare's gone because of you, Sammy and I'm putting money on Saskia or Lucifer! Anything happens to her and I'm doing much worse to you." A clatter caught his attention, but he didn't step away from Zarya's doorway. "Sammy! You're just making this worse for yourself, man! Oh, by the way, you can, uh… blame yourself for me getting loose too. All that blood you pumped into me to make me human… Well. The less demon I was, the less the cuffs worked. And that Devil's Trap? Well, I just walked right across it."

Dean took one last look at Zarya's bedroom before taking off down the hall again. The Mark scorched his arm in a way he'd never felt before. She was in trouble, she had to be. He found the control panel and turned the lights back on. Behind him, the door slammed shut. "That's your big move?"

"Listen to me, Dean!" Sam yelled on the other side with a knife in his hand. "We were getting close, okay? I know you're still in there somewhere. Just let me finish the treatments." When his brother didn't answer, he sighed. "I promise I'm working on finding Zarya too. Crowley might have sold you guys out but he… he caught wind of something and let me know. It'll help me find her, Dean."

A hammer came bashing through the wood suddenly, making Sam leap back. "You act like I wanna be cured!" Dean shouted back as he tore through the wood until he could see his brother through the hole. "Personally, I like the disease. So if you don't wanna tell me who's got Zare then I'll tear it out of Crowley. Not like he doesn't owe me for this happening to begin with."

"Dean, stop that! I'm not telling you anything until you're cured. I don't want to use this blade on you!"

"That sucks for you, doesn't it? 'Cause you really mean that!"

"Look, if you come out of that room, I won't have a choice!"

"Sure you will! And I know which one you'll make. Isn't that right, Sammy? But see… Here's the thing: I'm lucky. Oh, hell, I'm blessed! 'Cause there's just enough demon left in me that, killing you? Ain't no choice at all. It'll be like cake slicing through everyone after you until I find Zare."

The door took its last blow before Sam took off running down the hall. As Dean stepped out, he ran his free hand through her hair. "Come on, Sammy!" He stalked down the hall. "Let's have a beer, talk about it. I'm tired of playing. Let's finish this game before Zare runs out of time!"

* * *

Zarya refused to let her knees hit the floor in submission. It still wasn't her saying 'yes', but she couldn't give him that satisfaction first. She'd been tossed all about the container, as far as the chain would allow her. Her wrists were tearing from the pulling and chaffing. Lucifer had forced her to relive drowning again before making her feel like she was burning alive, wondering which one felt worse.

"You really are astonishing, Rya," he backhandedly praised her after kneeling down to her level. "Let's take it up a notch, hm?"

She fell back onto the cold floor and groaned before staring up at him with exhausted eyes. "What more could you possibly do to me?" Her voice was hoarse. "Don't you have to cross off your list of what you've already done?"

Lucifer smiled down devilishly at her. He gently brushed some of her hair out of her face. "I spent more years locked in that Cage with nothing to do than you can even comprehend. I have endless ideas of torture, sweetheart. So why don't we revisit that summer of temptation you had, shall we?"

She bolted upright and tried to scoot away from him. "Don't even think about it."

"Well it's too late for that, isn't it? What's the matter, Rya? You realized you were nothing more than a demon's whore for a hot summer?"

"Shut up," she hissed through gritted teeth.

He stood, towering above her. "You know damn well what came back was not the Dean Winchester you knew. The Dean that you knew is dead, Rya. Every shot you took, every touch, every time you slept with him, that was not your precious Dean."

He thrust his hand out, flinging her flat against one of the cold walls. She clamped her eyes shut and ground her teeth trying desperately to fight off the sensation washing over her. Her eyes shot open, sweat dripping down the back of her neck. She looked to him pleadingly as much as she didn't want to. "Lucifer, please," she quietly sobbed.

He smirked with pride. "There it is. Just kept letting go, Rya. I'll be here to catch you when you fall."

Frigid darkness washed over her body, almost sucking her in. She watched herself changing through the summer, becoming more reckless. She could taste the liquor on her lips again. Her heart started to beat wildly as she stared into Dean's eyes again. She started to find solace in them as she often could, until they turned entirely black. She tried to run but felt his hands tight on her hips again. She was dancing with her back against him, enjoying the warmth radiating off of his skin.

She could feel his lips all over again. The handsy bruises returning to her waist and thighs. She could practically feel their clothes shredding again. His hand tightening slowly but carefully around her throat. The nearly scalding water washing across her when they were in the shower. She found herself lost in the bliss and ecstasy once again. Then everything turned freezing cold. The water, the touch of their skin together, each hungry kiss trailed across her. Everything turned dark and frigid, Dean's eyes as black as the night terrorizing her.

She let out a cry of agony before Lucifer let her drop to the floor. She panted and wheezed a bit, her matted hair covering her face. She muttered something but he couldn't quite hear. He grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her head back. "Sorry Rya, I didn't hear you."

Zarya's eyes had turned a violently dark emerald. She smirked up at him. "I said, you're not going to get very far if you're going to make me endure the great sex I had as torture. Unless you're just trying to get me off."

He stared at her with cut eyes. "Now where'd that sharp tongue come from?"

" _T'ifatenya nenyi shel-kha mahbub, Lux._ " _**(Blame your beloved, Lux.)**_

His eyes ignited scarlet and he pulled back harshly on her hair. "You have no right to call me that," he hissed at her.

A twisted smile spread across her dry, cracked, and cut lips. "All of God's given light will end and the Earth will live in darkness. The very air will be pestilence to humankind. Only the children of survival, my night creatures, will have the strength to purge and feed on the monsters who abused them. Such is the power I share with my beloved, such is our kingdom we will create, such is my bloodstained kiss."

Lucifer let her drop, jumping to his feet and a step away from her. "Where the hell did you hear that?"

Her head lolled around, a low growl rumbled in her chest. " _Nolo a-ta inide ya-khol nansaa hadha._ " _**(Wouldn't you like to forget it.)**_

* * *

It had been a few hours since Sam successfully finished curing his brother. Dean was quiet in his room for a bit, adjusting. While Sam and Cas talked about things, Dean found himself in Zarya's room. The handle and lock had been broken when he kicked it open. Truthfully, he'd never paid great detail to her bedroom.

The room still had her scent to it - lavender and coconut. Her bed was an open mess with the teddy bear sitting in the middle. He sat on the edge of the bed and held the small bear gently in his hands.

* * *

[Flashback]

" _Welcome to the slums and darkness of humanity," she shrugged before darting to the bathroom for a few things. "Alright, I've got all I need from here."_

" _You're sure?" The green eyed brother teased, holding up the stuffed bear._

 _Zarya swiped the teddy from his hands and stuffed it in her backpack. "Shut your pie hole."_

" _Sure there's no more where he came from?"_

" _Dean, stop." Sam rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to smile._

 _She slung her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed her box. "Joke's on you; I've downsized my collection heavily since I was a kid." With her free hand she swiped up the machete, giving it a little spin. "I can't say I'm terribly sentimental about any of this stuff anymore. Just memories of everything and everyone I've lost." She shrugged._

* * *

[Present]

As Dean laid the teddy back on her bed, something on her nightstand caught his eye. There was a picture tucked to the side just right for her to see if she was laying down on her bed. He tugged it from its spot, heart aching when he saw what it was. Honestly, he expected to see Nick Rowell's face staring back at him. He was surprised to see his own and Sam's on each side of Zarya. He remembered the photo and why Sam looked so uncomfortable while the two of them laughed; they had a case at Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie. Zarya had seen that they offered to take photos for $10 and practically forced it upon the brothers. It had been too priceless that Plucky the Clown was the one to take the picture.

He remembered everything; from the sheer agony in Zarya's eyes as he died, to carrying her out of the bar, and everything in between. The last thing he'd heard before he died was her wail and it was the first thing he heard again when Sam cured him. He could still feel her, so small and fragile beneath him. He still felt the undying need to find her but for completely different reasons. The Mark had mirrored onto her. He'd dragged her into the dark with him. He had to save whatever was left before it was too late. If Sam saved him then Zarya was nowhere near past saving. Not yet.

"Dean," Sam and Cas both greeted when he walked into the room. They could see clearly how unwell he was.

He looked to his little brother with almost desperation in his eyes. "Tell me you have a lead on Zare. Please." He didn't like the way their faces changed.

"Crowley's intel turned out to be true," Sam started slowly. "What I mentioned earlier?"

"Yeah, what about it? What's he found out?"

When Sam couldn't find the words, Cas did. "Lucifer has taken control of Auriel Cressida, a Moore witch specializing in Transmutation, similarly to when he was alongside Zarya."

Dean's breath caught in his throat like razor blades. "He has her, doesn't he? That's why her gun was left behind the bar. Because that bastard got the jump on her. Goddammit, I never should have let her out of my sight!" His hands crashed down on the top of the table hard with guilty anger.

 _You never should have hunted her down,_ his mind told him. _She would have been just fine dealing with your death. It's your fault Lucifer has her now._

"Dean," his brother's voice interrupted his thoughts, "I'm sure you don't want to talk about it, but we need to know what happened between you two."

"The hell you do."

"Lucifer and Remiel are both topside, Dean," Castiel reminded him tactlessly. "Lucifer has Zarya in his possession somewhere as we speak. Has the Mark mirrored itself onto her?"

He took a breath before forcing himself to answer. "Yes. It just happened a couple of days before Sam caught me. She found it one morning after…" He trailed off, clicking his tongue as the memory resurfaced. "Then Daciana was waiting for her downstairs."

"Daciana Mikaelson?" Sam questioned with disbelief.

"She'd protected Zarya from Saskia the night I found her. That day I guess they had some heart to heart and Daciana broke her brother's compulsion on Zarya. She remembers everything now. Her entire childhood, the accident, all of it."

"Has she killed since finding the Mark on her arm?" came Cas.

Dean dropped into a chair with his face in his hands for a moment. "She killed an entire vamp nest herself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I put her friggen machete in her hand and set her loose as soon as I saw the Mark on her. She practically begged for me not to…"

" _Crowley wants to send demons for me to kill because the Mark of Cain requires it. Welcome to the club, Zare. Kill or the Mark wears you down to death."_

" _Dean… Don't make me do this. Tell me that you'll stop. Tell me that you can stop."_

" _I will never stop."_

Dean sat upright in his chair, olive eyes lost with each echoing sound of Zarya. Her cries, her laugh, her terrified screams, the agonizing wail, the screams of pleasure, the way his name rolled off her lips. She was Zarya; sweet Zarya who had become their family. While nothing had been against her will he knew he still took advantage of her. He was a Knight of Hell and she was still grieving his death. Lucifer couldn't have grabbed her at a more perfect time. The more that he thought of her, the more emerald his eyes seemed to shine.

"I think I have an idea," Cas interrupted his thoughts suddenly. "Dean, what is it you were just thinking about? Was it Zarya?"

He looked away petulantly. "Of course it was," he admitted quietly.

"What are you thinking, Cas?" Sam asked with the smallest shred of hope.

"Nova Vasile and Lethia Kross were put under a linking spell by a Moore faction some decades ago. It granted them access to one another in times of need like a bridge. It was also rumored that Lucifer and Remiel could channel one another when they were separated. I think we might be able to use the Mark of Cain as a similar bridge."

"Do it then," Dean answered quickly. "Try it."

"Can you do it, Cas?"

"I can try. Sit as still as possible, Dean." The angel put his hands on each side of Dean's head. "Focus entirely on Zarya. Everything you can think about her, do it now."

He closed his eyes and let her face fill his mind. The indigo reflection on her hair, the way her eyes swirled with light. He thought about each time he got to lay with her at night, each boisterous laugh. He could feel the shock of whatever Cas was attempting at first, but the thought of Zarya had been stronger. He heard her sing again, felt her hair between his fingers. There was another shock that interrupted his thoughts and he found a fancy black door in front of him. As he reached out to the glass knob, something burned onto the door; Z. M. C. V. with fiery wings on the side of the Z and V.

" _Dean…"_

His hand recoiled when he heard her voice on the other side of the door. No, regardless of the consequences he had to find her before it was too late. He had to protect her. His hand clamped down around the knob again before briskly shoving the door open. Sunlight blinded him at first before his eyes adjusted. His car was parked at a dock near a beach. Cautiously he walked closer, finding a lavender fabric blowing in the gentle wind off the side. He realized as he got closer that it was a part of a woman's flowy dress.

She sat up on the hood of the Impala slowly, her long raven hair falling down her back in gallant beach waves. Dean let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd held when he saw the indigo tint across the dark strands. She jumped off the hood with just enough grace, her bare feet making a small thud against the wooden dock. When she turned and faced him at last Dean swore he was going to fall right there.

Zarya smiled at him, tears forming in her gleaming green-blue eyes. She wore a flowy purple sundress that hugged her curves perfectly. "Dean," she spoke breathlessly. "Tell me it's really you. Tell me this is safe."

He wasn't sure how to answer, if he even could. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her and the way she glowed radiantly beneath the sun. Finally he found the will to choke some words out. "I-it's me… what is this? Is this real?"

As soon as he told her it was him her bare feet took off down the dock. She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He could feel her crying against his chest as he held her. After a couple of minutes she finally stepped back and looked up at him with her hands on his face. God how she missed the warmth. "This is real. As real as it can be anyways. How did you get here?"

"Cas. He tried something because of this," he gently ran his thumb over the Mark of Cain mirrored on her arm. "Said it could be a bridge between the two of us."

She sniffled a little through her smile. "Then when you go back you tell him he's a genius. You saw a door didn't you? That's what took you here specifically?"

He nodded. "What was it? What is this, Zare?"

"It's like, free space between the two of us. Where we can find each other when we really need. Lucifer would always drag me through the door to my bedroom in Pike Creek. When I opened my eyes and saw myself laying in a sundress on the hood of the Impala I knew it couldn't have been him. This is the only place we're safe until he comes back for me. I can't risk him finding your door in my head."

"So it is that bastard that took you. Do you have any idea where you are? I'm coming for you, Zare. I promise. I just need you to hold on until I get there."

Her eyes gleamed with a light he hadn't seen in so long as she stared up at him, still cupping his face. "Sam cured you?" She whispered. "It really worked?"

He put his warm hands over hers. "He did. It _is_ me now, Zare. I promise."

Zarya stood on her toes slowly, leaning herself so close to his face that they were almost touching. Tears still poured from her eyes. "Then save someone who deserves it, Dean," she spoke barely above a whisper against his lips. "Stop hurting because of me. Stop worrying about me. Don't stand up to Lucifer and Remiel, please, Dean. Survive. Fight and survive and never forget who you really are. I promise you I will never say yes to them. Never."

"Zare, don't do this-"

"I'll find my way back to you one day, Dean."

She hesitated for the quickest second before deciding to kiss him. She needed to feel that warmth just one more time. She needed to remember what she was fighting for. So with tears running down her cheeks, she stepped back from him. The black door formed in shadows behind Dean. He moved to run to her which allowed her to give him a good push back into the doorway.

" _Zare!_ " He shouted, hanging onto the frame. She could see the burning determination in his eyes. "Dammit Zare, I'm coming for you! And you're not gonna stop me! Ever!"

* * *

Zarya awoke on the cold metal floor sobbing uncontrollably. She knew then that she was going to either escape herself or die at Lucifer's hand like she once told him she would. She wasn't sure how long it had been, she didn't exactly care. Each day blended into the next as Lucifer tried to break her. Was it day, or was it night even? What day was it anymore? She was sure the metal walls had to have dents from her being tossed into them like a doll repeatedly. God knew her blood was splattered all over the place. The amount of blood screamed that she shouldn't have been alive still but Lucifer would heal her if she took too much damage and try again. And again. And again.

Everyday she thought of Sam and Dean and Cas. Everyday she knew she couldn't touch the new door she found in the hidden corner of her mind. She wanted nothing more than to rip the door open and run into Dean's arms for some kind of relief. Something to give her strength through the archangel's tirade. She knew Dean would never find her. Lucifer had made sure they were entirely off the grid.

At one point Lucifer had really tricked her. Using Riel's magic, he made an illusion of Sam and Dean coming to rescue her. She'd been laying on the floor after another tirade of magical abuse when she heard their voices. She thought it was her imagination at first, until she heard Dean's shouts getting closer. She sat up with tears and hope in her eyes as she screamed out to them. She scrambled to a wall and started pounding on the metal, begging that they hear her.

"Zare! We're coming!" She heard Dean grow closer.

The door whipped open, light blinding her brutally. She tried to see through the light, to crawl her way towards them. As her vision focused she saw one person standing in the light and bending to her. "Dean," her voice cracked out with a painstaking hope.

He bent down to her but his green eyes melted into blue. Everything swirled and fell apart leaving Lucifer standing before her laughing. She hadn't cared. She started sobbing and screaming as her heart broke again. He teased her with similar illusions a few more times after when she realized how he loved the reactions. Each time he left her alone he could still hear her crying through the metal.

Lucifer knew he was close to breaking her. It was only a matter of time. Some days she'd still react with a dark anger, lashing back and hissing in his own tongues. He'd heard they'd started calling the Verbis Diablo. How cliche. He'd worn her down to next to nothing but still she continued to fight because of the imprint Dean Winchester had left on her soul. It had started to grow stronger than his own imprint on her. The one that had been there for so many years and tethered her to him when he saved her life in the accident. Perhaps he'd just have to engrave his mark fresher onto her.

"You getting bored yet?" Zarya's raspy voice echoed as the door opened again.

He stepped in, shutting the door behind him and twirling his angel blade in his hand. "Actually, I had a little epiphany. Thought I might try something a little outside of the box." He snickered.

She rolled her eyes as she lay on her side looking up at him. "Don't you just feel punny today." As he walked closer with the angel blade she forced herself to sit up. He was being too calm and quiet with that blade. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"If you're hoping I'm here to kill you then you're wrong, Rya. Even if I did I'd just bring you back. Haven't we gone over that? No, I'm going to make sure my mark on you is visible this time. I want it to remind you every day about who you are. Who you really belong to."

Panic began to set in as she jumped to her feet. They started to circle each other around where her chain was tethered down. He'd caused plenty of physical pain to her already but nothing he didn't heal and do again. Nothing he'd already done had left lasting marks except the trauma. She knew he finally intended to scar her. Mutilate her. "Lucifer, please," the plea escaped her lips. "I will take anything else you wanna dish at me. Please don't do this. Anything else. Please."

He smirked with a dark arrogance. "Are you going to let me and Remmy in? Work with us like you're supposed to?"

"Anything but that." She shook her head furiously. "Please, Lucifer!"

"Go on, Rya. Keep begging and pleading until 'yes' comes out of your mouth."

"No!"

He had her in a flash, his hand tight around her throat. "Then take the consequence," he growled at her. "Clearly my mark on your soul wasn't as embedded as it should be." He tossed her back down to the floor onto her back. "Now you will live with it on you each day to remind you who you belong to. Where you will always end up."

Zarya thrashed against him as he forced her to stay on the floor. He grabbed some of the chain by her cuffs and wound it around his hand. As she tried to kick her legs beneath him he trapped her with his own legs. She started to cry and scream when she felt the angel blade forcing the hem of her tank top to rise. There was nothing she could do to protect or defend herself. She was entirely at his mercy.

" _Zakar min aldhaa at be'iwineti sunt,_ Rya." He hissed in her ear as his blade began slicing her skin. " _Zakar min aldhaa at tantami wede._ " _**(Remember who you really are, Rya. Remember who you belong to.)**_

Her vehement screams and cries filled the metal hell she was in. They escaped through the cracks and walls and made their way to the outside until they pierced the sky and clouds. There was a rumor it could have been heard all the way in Heaven, yet no one batted a lash. She wailed with each fine, painfully slow slice as they ranged from across her rib cage to just over her hip bone. She could feel her warm blood pouring across her abdomen. Spilling onto the cold floor. As everything started to turn black, Dean's eyes haunted her just one more time before they became as black as the darkness that took her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Aye! I know it's been a little bit but I really do have plenty done lmao I'm just going back and making sure everything lines up now because shit is about to get _crazy_.  
Also I've decided to try putting at least the 'Verbis Diablo' translations beside the tongue itself to make it a little less confusing for all of us LOL

Thank you to everyone reading this series!  
Plenty of updates on the way!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan


	16. All Resistance Wearing Thin

16: All Resistance Wearing Thin.

It felt like an entire day she was unconscious from the bloodloss. Her side throbbed and burned. The blood dried ever so slowly against her skin, the wound exposed to the air only. She didn't move for an extended period of time, unable to move off of her unharmed side. If she was awake then she was crying from the physical and emotional pain. If she was asleep she mistook it for death and longed to stop breathing each time she woke. As her wound healed day by day on its own without any sort of half ass medical treatment she was left alone. Part of her honestly would have rathered to see Lucifer than sit in darkness all alone while she bled and ached.

Zarya made the mistake of sitting up at one point, thinking the cuts must have scabbed over by then. They hadn't, and she tore her flesh back open, bleeding more. As she laid on the floor panting and growing dizzy from blood loss again she severely contemplated just saying yes. Maybe she could work out a deal with him. She was just as useful by his side as Remiel, and there seemed to be things Remiel kept from even him. Maybe she could stick a wedge between the two of them. Maybe if she submit to him he would grant her leniency.

 _Get yourself together, Zarya,_ she told herself. _You survived Purgatory._ She stifled a sob as she stared into the darkness. _With Dean._

They really weren't coming. She'd realized that long ago. She'd made her peace by telling Dean to let her go. They would never find her. Lucifer made sure of that. At least while he was occupied with her he wouldn't be hunting Dean. She no longer had the will to escape herself. It was just a matter of time before Lucifer started killing her for sport because he'd run out of ideas. She couldn't say 'yes' to them. She knew the first thing either of the archangels would do would be to kill the Winchesters. Not with her hands they wouldn't.

Light began pouring in slowly but Zarya didn't budge. She could only imagine what Lucifer would do to her after who knew how long of silence.

* * *

"You're positive this is the place?" Dean asked as he loaded his gun.

Castiel nodded, looking around the shipping container yard. "Yes, I can feel the power that's radiated here recently. Lucifer, magic," his expression turned grim, "a great pain. Something terrible has happened in the vicinity. Recently."

"How do we find Zarya though?" Sam questioned.

"The Mark of Cain should be able to lead you to her. You'll feel when you're getting closer."

The three took off into the maze of shipping containers with weapons drawn. They had no choice but to wander aimlessly until Dean felt the pricking of the Mark. It had been confusing at first and he was getting angry. The longer they took the more they risked Lucifer finding them and making off with Zarya. As the burn started to increase, Dean had enough.

" _Zare!_ " He shouted in the middle of a section.

"Dean, what the hell!" Sam hissed. "Do you want Lucifer to find us?"

"This is gonna get us fucking nowhere, Sammy. Maybe if we follow it and listen for her it'll be easier. She'll call for us. She knows we'd come." He took off shouting his nickname for her through a line of containers.

Zarya gave a soft bang on the floor with her head when she heard his voice. She refused to cry again or believe Lucifer's antics. Just like in the illusions, she heard Dean's voice getting louder. He started yelling for Sam and Cas, thinking he was close. He practically begged that she give them some kind of sign so they could find her. As much as it pained her, she took as deep of a breath as she could before she started to sing.

" _I'm searching.. for something.. that I.. can't reach…_ "

Cas heard the soft murmur first, shoving the brothers in the direction.

" _I don't like them innocent  
_ _I don't want no face fresh  
_ _Want them wearing leather  
_ _Begging, let me be your taste test  
_ _I like the sad eyes, bad guys  
_ _Mouth full of white lies  
_ _Kiss me in the corridor  
_ _But quick to tell me goodbye…_ "

They could tell it pained her to sing but Dean recognized the song. He'd only ever heard it once before and unable to forget it since. It came out raspy and strained but he could still hear the melody behind. He took off running past both of them towards Zarya's voice.

" _You say that you're no good for me  
_ _'Cause I'm always tugging at your sleeve  
_ _And I swear I hate you when you leave  
_ _But I like it anyway…_ "

There, the one with all the warding on it at last. Sam and Cas couldn't believe it. They started going around and slashing at as many wards as they could to break them while Dean worked on the massive lock outside.

It had been a new sound to reach Zarya's ears, the scraping of metal on each side of the container. Then the pounding and gunshots on the lock. Lucifer was getting creative. She laid still as the light began to pour in slowly. She prepared herself for the worst. She refused to look, knowing it was just another trick.

Dean stood in the doorway as daylight filled the metal container. Blood splattered and stained across each wall, floor, and ceiling. Zarya laid in a heap on a massive splotch of dried, stained blood. His flannel was in one of the back corners, leaving her in shredded jeans and a black tank top. The tank top was also torn and risen high. There almost wasn't a part of her not covered in fresh or dried blood. His gun fell from his hand slowly, clattering loudly against the metal floor.

"God," his voice cracked as he stared at her. "Zare…"

Sam and Cas ran into the doorway as Dean got to the ravenette. They were both equally horrified. Dean wasn't sure what part of her had been bleeding most recently or what was going to cause pain. She looked like she was barely hanging on. Her breaths were shallow and barely noticeable. Pulling a pick from his jacket pocket he released the metal cuffs tight around her wrists. He had to look away for a second when he found them raw and torn and bloody. Tears threatened their way to his eyes as he brushed some of the hair stuck to her face away.

"Hey," he tapped her face gently. "Zare, Zare can you open your eyes? Please open your eyes and look at me baby…"

"No," she finally spoke, surprising them all. A tear slid down from her unopening eye. "I know you're not real. Try a new one today, Lucifer…"

Good God even Castiel could have almost teared up. Dean bit his tongue and slid his arms cautiously beneath her tiny and bloody frame. She finally realized she had been uncuffed and lifted off the floor. As she felt walking and a warmth growing on the cold she had become she forced her eyes open. The sunlight hit them hard at first, but she could see the outline of a person carrying her. She could see the shipping containers fading in the distance. When Zarya's eyes could finally make out Dean's clear as day she swore a lung might as well have collapsed if it hadn't yet.

"Dean," she murmured, reaching up with a shaking hand to touch his face.

He had stopped walking as soon as she opened her eyes. "It's really me, Zare. We're here. I've got you. I promise you, I will always come for you."

"We're taking you home, Zarya." She looked over and found Sam smiling at her with Cas beside him. Part of her still waited for it all to end horribly.

She started to settle against Dean's warmth when Lucifer found them. Dean felt the fear cripple her in his arms as soon as she heard his voice. "Now where do you think you're going?"

Sam and Cas stood in front of Dean and Zarya with angel blades drawn. "She's coming with us, Lucifer," the younger Winchester spoke bravely.

"Get ahold of yourselves - she's tainted goods now. She needs to stay with me where she belongs."

"While you inhibit a Moore witch from Hell?" Cas quipped.

"Funny story about Auriel, actually. I really expected Daciana but Auriel owed me one. What do you say you boys make a deal with me, hm?"

"We ain't bargaining Zare," Dean snapped. "You're not laying a damn finger on her ever again."

"You know it's only a matter of time before she opens my door again. Says 'yes' to Remmy. She will never be yours, Dean. She will always fall back to Remmy and I where she's meant to be."

"Then what if I stayed, _khuba_?"

They all watched something unreadable cross Lucifer's face when Remiel spoke. He turned and stepped aside so everybody could see her. "You haven't called me that since your daughter picked it up for Cain."

Remiel's face was stone cold. "I suppose it was fitting since I was not the one to endure the pregnancy though I aided in her creation. Tell me then, _Lux,_ " he cut his eyes at her, "do you consider Cain or Lilith your first child? She was your first demon, but he was your first Knight."

"What's your purpose here, Remmy?"

"You'll have to forgive me, I thought you would have been more glad to see me in one piece. I'm here to make you a deal, Lux."

"Hell no," came Dean. "No one is making any damn deals around here."

Her eyes met his and he resisted the urge to shudder. "I could take Zarya from your feeble hands right this second and whisk her off for myself if I desired to. Instead," she held her hand out in Lucifer's direction and he started to choke and suffocate, "I am giving you the opportunity to take my descendant and get out of here safely while I handle my brother."

Dean clutched the barely conscious ravenette a little tighter as he looked the younger archangel in her pitch black eyes. "You're coming back for her eventually though, aren't you?" His gaze flicked to Lucifer as he remained still without air. "Both of you?"

Remiel's face was cold and solemn. "Yes. We will return for her. So cherish your time while you have it and remember that it is borrowed time. You have Zarya in your lives because we allow it. Now go."

They hesitated briefly, but knew there was no other option. Sam got in the driver's seat and took off quickly as soon as the other three were in. Cas tried to heal even a little of bit of Zarya's pain but he didn't have the ability to. There was no way to tell where it was even originating from. It was infuriating that they were only four hours away from Lebanon. She had been so close the entire time.

"Are you awake still, Zare?" Dean asked her as she laid in his lap.

Slowly her eyes fluttered open, her green-blue irises were hollow. Her breathing was labored and she had sprung a fever. "Kind of," she replied tiredly.

"Do you know where most of the blood is coming from?"

Tears started to prick her eyes. "My left side. It's…" She resisted the urge to sob. "It's my permanent reminder."

Zarya made them swear not to take her to a hospital. Sam reminded her that the only antiseptic and anesthetic at the bunker was whiskey and they'd have to get a little extra personal. She tried to laugh a little regardless of the pain. When they finally got back to the bunker Dean just set her on the table so they could get to work. While the three ran around grabbing their makeshift medical supplies, Zarya's hand found its way around a pair of scissors. She dragged her hand back to cut through her tank top, figuring she might spare the three men. She knew the wound didn't go too far down so she got away with just rolling the top of her jeans down and exposing her hips.

Her vision was beginning to haze and she cursed. "Come on, boys, I'm trying not to die on this kind of table!"

"You hanging in there, Zarya?" came the voice of Sam. She gave the best nod that she could. "Here, drink this. It's not absinthe but it'll have to do." He offered a small smile.

She gladly wrapped her clammy hand around his with a whiskey bottle in it, bringing it to her lips and taking a big swig. "Honestly, I just don't drink a lot of whiskey because it makes me all hot and bothered." She grinned through the pain.

 _Maybe it's a good thing I didn't know that before,_ Dean thought as he stood at the other side of the table with Cas at the end near her feet. "You're gonna wanna fight us because it's gonna hurt so Sammy and Cas have to hold you down."

"Already figured," she panted as the adrenaline started to thump through her. "Let's do this, boys. Come on. I can handle it." _It can't be any worse than what I've already endured..._

Sam had his hands firmly on her shoulders with Cas holding tight to her legs. Dean didn't give her a warning before he poured whiskey all over her exposed side. Her eyes widened as she let out a deep scream from the burning pain. A string of curses one after another flew out of her mouth while he wiped away the blood with a hand towel. It took a second dose of whiskey and wiping before they saw the horrific engravement on her pale skin clearly. The skin had started to repair itself, some shreds of flesh coming together piece by piece. Most of it had reopened and started to bleed again. All three knew well what the bleeding mark on her was. Lucifer's sigil.

Dean looked up to his brother with brokeness in his eyes. Sam nodded quickly, understanding. "Switch with me, I'll stitch her up."

"I'm never gonna want to look at myself again, am I?" Zarya asked quietly when she saw Dean above her.

He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "That son of a bitch doesn't know what's coming to him."

She bit her lip, letting out only a small squeak as she felt the needle sliding in and out of her skin. She was half numb from the pain and whiskey in her open wound. "Sewing needle?" Her voice shook as she tried to remain conscious. Dean gave her a small nod. "Thanks for not using a fishing hook."

By time the entire sigil was sewn shut, Zarya passed out. Dean laid his blue flannel he had been wearing across her before sitting in one of the chairs. Sam and Castiel followed suit. They all sat in silence, listening to her breaths like each might have been the last. Five hours later she finally began to stir.

She realized, first and foremost, that she was alive. Alive and at the bunker where the three sat passed out around the table she laid on. She tried to sit up and found Dean's shirt on her. Her head rolled over as he started to awaken slowly so she forced her leg over just enough to tap him with her foot. He jerked awake abruptly, surprised to see her staring back. She tried to actually sit up, prompting all three to really wake and tell her not to.

"Zarya, we don't know the extent of the damage," Sam started off cautiously.

She flung her legs over the side of the table, pressing her hands to her side delicately. "It's just this. The jackass made sure to fix me up every time he broke me down. Except this." She looked away with a broken hatred in her eyes. Before any of them could attempt in getting her to talk about it, she brought up something worse. "Quite frankly I just want to bathe in soap and water instead of my blood and misery but," she took a breath, puffing up her cheeks momentarily, "I'm unfortunately going to need one of you twits to suck it up and help me."

Cas was the first to look at Dean with Sam's eyes right behind him. His face as he looked between the two screamed 'what the fuck'. The ravenette bit her bottom lip and shrugged as her eyes looked up to him slowly as well. "It makes the most sense, man," Sam offered.

"I mean come on," Zarya realized she was about to babble but she could at least have the trauma and blood loss for some lame excuse, "Cas barely understands the concept of bathing in total, Sam's poor eyeballs might melt out of his skull while his nose bleeds, I'm not waiting for Jody to be free and get out to Kansas, and quite frankly… it's nothing you haven't seen before." Sam at least noticed the way her cheeks turned a little pinker. "I'm not entirely handicapped, either. I just can't reach behind me or up too high." She wasn't feeling awful so she forced herself to slide off the table. Before she could get two steps in her knees buckled beneath her.

"Or use your legs either," Dean teased as he grabbed her. He spared no time and just picked her up.

After the two vanished down the hall, Cas turned to the younger Winchester. "She's taking the whole situation better than most would."

Sam made a face, still staring down the hall after where they had been. "No, she's repressing it. Trying to ignore it. And I can guarantee you it's exactly what Lucifer expected her to do."

* * *

With her desk chair at the sink, Dean was able to wash her hair. It took a half hour and most of her shampoo and conditioner to do it. Zarya barely looked down at herself as she kicked off her boots and jeans. She'd already ditched the shredded remains of her camisole, standing with her back to Dean in just his flannel and her undergarments. "You know," she spoke softly as the bathtub filled slowly, "you three don't have to tiptoe around me. I'm not gonna fall to pieces. He didn't break me. I wouldn't let him."

He caught sight of scars standing out against her extra pale thighs. They were obviously older, but he'd never noticed them before. "You sure about that, Zare?" He eyed her with concern. "I don't know the first thing that son of a bitch did aside from leaving you to bleed with his name practically carved into you like some permanent tag. You cannot just be okay with this, Zare. None of it."

She clutched his flannel around her a little tighter. Her eyes were vacant and distant, a thick wall put up high. When the tub was half full with warm water she shut it off. Her side still throbbed; she wasn't trying to make it sting as well. "I unfortunately don't have a switch to find that I can shut off on command to not feel anything. I'm just doing all I can to not give him exactly what he wants of me. He wanted me broken so I'd run back to him and Remiel. I can't give him that. I won't." She slid the flannel off her shoulders and onto the shelf to her side. Pulling her hair over one shoulder gently, she looked back to Dean with a pitiful half smile. "Would you mind?"

He forced himself to return the smile. "What I'm here for, ain't it?"

In his best attempt to not marvel when she finished disrobing and sat in the water, he sat against the adjacent wall with his legs stretched out. Neither could see the other unless they looked around the corner. Zarya stared up at the white ceiling, leaning her back against the cool wall. "Thank you," she finally spoke barely an octave above a whisper.

Dean arched a brow. "What for?"

"You guys still came for me. Even when I told you to let me go."

He practically rolled his eyes. "Are you serious right now, Zare? You think that crap means anything? 'Let me go'. Gimme a break. Name one time Sammy and I ever listened to anything of the sort. You're family Zare. Get used to it. Whatever mess you get yourself in, we're dragging you right back."

"I think this time you boys might be in over your heads. We hadn't exactly planned for an entire clan of juiced up vamps, or two psychotic archangels who would shatter Heaven and Hell for each other. What the hell are we supposed to do this time?"

"We'll take care of it, Zare. One way or another we always do. We'll get through this. We always do."

Zarya put her hand on her side against the sting as she sank a little lower into the water, bending her knees. Slowly but surely the filth, blood, and sweat was coming off into the water. She knew she couldn't just soak. The water would be too disgusting too quickly. The lukewarm water felt nice on her aching back. She couldn't wait to crawl into her bed.

* * *

"Have you found anything?" Castiel asked, kindly handing Sam a fresh beer.

The younger Winchester was bent up over his laptop with a befuddled look on his face. "Nothing on Lucifer or Remiel, but something from Dean and Zarya's road trip."

"What do you mean?"

"Check this video out. It's from a bar in Portland."

The video was clearly recorded on one of the patrons' phones and uploaded online. Everybody started clapping and, before the lights dimmed, the karaoke sign was visible. A guitar started to play slowly before a spotlight illuminated on Zarya on the stage. She looked about half together, not a trainwreck quite yet. By the rosiness on her cheeks and the way she swayed it was safe to say she'd been drinking.

" _You can't trust a cold blooded man  
_ _Girl, don't believe in his lies  
_ _Can't trust a cold blooded man  
_ _He'll love you and leave you alive  
_ _There's one thing you must understand  
_ _You can't trust a cold blooded man…"_

A second spotlight came on suddenly, shining down on Dean. Cas had to scrunch his eyes looking at the screen with some disbelief. Demon Dean got Zarya drunk and sang karaoke? What?

" _Can't trust a cold blooded woman  
_ _Boy, don't you lie in her bed  
_ _You can't trust a cold blooded woman  
_ _She'll love you and leave you for dead  
_ _There's one thing you must understand  
_ _You can't trust a cold blooded woman…"_

And go figure, neither of them were half bad. The crowd started to clap and whistle during the instrumental bridge because Zarya and Dean had started to dance. As if they needed further proof it was Demon Dean, they watched him getting handsy with her; grabbing her ass and waist. Demon or not, they also saw the way he still looked at her. He was clearly only on that stage because of her, for whatever reason. They sang the rest together in the strangest, most perfect harmony.

" _And all the times I stayed and wonder why, are to blame, oh  
_ _And all the times that I'm reminded by, I'm ashamed, oh yeah  
_ _You can't trust a cold blooded lover  
_ _You can't trust a cold blooded slave  
_ _You can't trust a cold blooded other  
_ _In the end they'll just drive you insane  
_ _There's one thing you must understand  
_ _You can't trust a cold blooded  
_ _Can't trust a cold blooded  
_ _Can't trust a cold blooded  
_ _Woman(man)..."_

"I had to actually look up the song," Sam spoke when the video cut off after the song. "It's called Cold Blooded by this band The Pretty Reckless. They only formed in 2009; totally out of Dean's style. Zarya picked the song."

Castiel looked confused as ever. "Does this have to do with your brother and Zarya being in love with each other?"

He choked a little on his sip of beer, staring wide eyed up at the angel. "We're not discussing that right now. Not out loud, not while they're down the hall."

"Angels, and possibly even demons, can see when an imprint of sorts is placed upon a human soul. Usually they're nothing, just common strings linking two human souls in love." Cas shrugged. "But Zarya was born to bear Lucifer's imprint on her soul. It was already prewritten into her existence with how deeply embedded it is."

"And?"

"And if an angel or demon takes a moment to look at her, they will find _two_ imprints on Zarya currently."

"Why just Zarya?"

"She is born of angelic descent; she radiates easier to us. She is also meant to be Remiel's vessel. Everybody knows Lucifer's sigil. The second mark on her links her directly to Dean. It had never been visible before."

"Meaning what?"

"She must have fallen in love with him after he already had to her. But it's obvious now, even aside from being able to see the imprints, that they love one another."

Sam scoffed a little before sighing. "They really are obvious when even you've been able to tell, Cas."

* * *

 **A/N:** Aye! I know it's been a hot minute, but I've been dragging ass on _Dark Paradise_ which kind of hampered my updating this... lmao

Get ready for a little spam though! I've gotta post a few of these chapters before I can post even one of _Dark Paradise_... oops LOL

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan


	17. You Smile Lovingly and It Rots Me to the

17: You Smile Lovingly and it Rots Me to the Core.

"Dare I ask why it looks like my door had been kicked in?" Zarya had asked at one point in the bath with a small smile.

Dean, unfortunately, could not see the gentle look on her face and got hit with another wave of guilt. "When Sam was curing me, I… got loose. He just told me that after he cuffed me and went back for you, you were gone. Your gun left behind, bow in the trunk. Completely unarmed with a lot of monsters gunning for your head."

She gave a soundless laugh with her smile as she stared up at the ceiling. The water was starting to go cold. She had long since chipped off all of the blood and dirt with Dean's help, who tried desperately to be as respectable as he could, and had been soaking in the warmth to relax. Lake water would probably have been cleaner, but she figured she'd just run the shower quick to rinse off before wrapping up.

"So when did you find where I keep my picture?"

That time he could practically hear the smile in her voice. God, how could she be smiling at all? It took him a minute to answer, not particularly wanting to admit he had been in her room after. "After Sam cured me… I just sorta… ended up in here. To be honest, I expected it to be an old picture of you and Nick."

She sat up a little and curled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. Her side was killing her with the throbbing, stinging, and burning, but she refused to react to the pain. If she allowed it to physically hurt her then it would get to her emotionally and that's what Lucifer wanted. He wanted to get in her head, to remind her everyday of it. As difficult as it was for her she knew she had to survive and be stronger than the trauma. She'd already been privy to so much, she couldn't give up.

"That picture is actually my favorite," Zarya admitted with a light smile. The last time they'd ever been so open and honest with one another was in Purgatory. "Poor Sam's face is just gold, I'm like half the height of both of you, and we're even in our FBI-garb which made it all the more hilarious. I like it to be one of the last things I see when I lay down."

How on Earth could a young woman like Zarya Deighton-Vasile be so light and genuine? After all she'd seen, found out, and been through, how was she still standing so strong? Dean recalled Daciana giving her her memories back before Sam found them. She knew everything again; there were no more lies to discover. All that was left would be the outcome of the Vasiles and what would be left of Zarya. Admittedly he was terrified about what would be left of Zarya at the very end, but somehow he knew she'd be the last one standing in the end. Somehow it was always Zarya. Maybe that was why he was more excited than concerned about her becoming a hunter with them.

* * *

" _Why don't you take Zarya?" Bobby suggested._

" _What?" Sam questioned first. He looked to the ravenette on the stairs still, suddenly flushed with embarrassment._

 _Bobby nodded, firm to what he said. "She's read up on more books cover to cover than Dean's seen in his entire life." The elder brother seemed to pout which nearly made Zarya giggle. "Including in Latin and Greek."_

" _Why would you do that, Zarya?" the hazel eyed brother asked her softly._

" _I…" She started until she felt Dean's eyes directly on her. She looked to him, meeting his eye. She almost wished her eyes were as green instead of with such a blue undertone. "I don't know who I am anymore. I know technically in the eyes of my old life I'm gone in the wind. Just another missing person flyer. But anything I had before that is gone. The Deightons are dead, Nick is dead, all I've got left is the truth that the supernatural exists."_

" _So you want to be a hunter," Dean realized with the smallest hint of a smirk creeping its way onto his face._

 _She nodded bravely. "Yes I do."_

" _W-well, just knowing the lore won't always help you in the field," Sam stuttered. He was still fixated on the fact that she wanted to willingly become a hunter._

" _I'll train her," Dean spoke quickly. All eyes turned on him suddenly. He opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it and looked to Zarya when no sound came out. His hand rubbed over his mouth and chin before he decided to direct his words to her specifically. "You come with us on cases, help us figure shit out. When it comes to actually being in the field, you stay by my side with a weapon. When we're not out on a job you've got to actually train. I don't know what's going on with those noodles you've got for arms," he teased, poking at her skinny arms, "but you gotta be strong enough to swing a machete and take off some vamp's head. You ready for that?"_

 _Without hesitating she nodded. "I'm ready. Me and my noodle arms can handle it. Whatever you guys have to teach me I want to learn."_

* * *

He delicately helped her stand and rinse off before wrapping her in towels. Not once did his eyes dip below her shoulders or back. He couldn't look at what Lucifer did to her side as much as she couldn't. She refused to feel the pain and submit, but Dean knew the sheer rage would jumpstart the Mark of Cain right back up. With just a towel around her torso and nothing on her arms the Mark of Cain mirrored on Zarya's pale flesh would haunt both of them. It was like a physical representation of their affection for one another drowning in blood and darkness.

Zarya started to laugh when Dean was searching hopelessly for something comfortable for her to wear. It started off as just a quiet chuckle, listening to him mutter about how awful women's clothes were. Then it grew into her full, boisterous, room filling laugh. Sam and Cas could hear it down the hall and sat up in their seats, looking to the direction of the familiar sound. They almost thought it was a phantom sound at first, until they realized both of them truly did hear it. There was no way a laugh like that hadn't hurt her, but none of the three of them would disagree that they couldn't have been more relieved to hear the sound.

Dean finally gave up and stepped away from the tall dresser before he punched it. She walked over to him, still wrapped in her dark purple towel, and gently touched his upper arm. As she started pulling out clothes, he vanished out of her room hastily. She arched a brow but continued to sift through clothes until she had a loose pair or pajama pants, clean panties, and a sports bra that wasn't very tight. She realized she'd have an issue with her shirts for a while because most of them were meant to fit her nicely; to hug her. She didn't want any fabric tight on her side for a while. As she turned to sit on her bed and try to dress herself, Dean's footsteps returned. She smiled when she saw one of his flannels in his hand.

Sometimes she forgot how gentle Dean could really be and found herself reminded when he delicately helped her dress. Before he slid his flannel over her arms he dressed her wound with gauze, wrapping it all the way around her for safety. They had to make sure it didn't get infected since their only antiseptic was whiskey and stitches an old sewing kit. She tugged his flannel around her comfortingly, smiling because the fabric smelled like him. She did want to cry, but not because she was hurt and nearly broken. She wanted to cry because she was finally home again with all three of her boys. All four of them alive again and ready to fight.

She had tried to protest when Dean started to brush and braid her hair. He nearly smacked her with the brush. "Your hair is already horrendous enough in the morning if you don't do _something_ with it before you sleep. It just got washed after being caked with blood, sweat, tears, and filth. I'm braiding it while it's wet so I don't have to hear you bitch tomorrow." He told her with a smile.

Zarya was almost afraid it was a dream and she'd wake up to Dean still being dead or a demon. The other option was Lucifer still tormenting her, plaguing her mind and when she was good and happy she'd be back in that box with him. Something about Dean's warm touch reminded her that neither were true and it was reality, but after picking enough details from her brain Lucifer made his hallucinations pretty vivid too.

"I'll see you in the morning, alright Zare?" He told her quietly when he put the hair tie in. "If you can't sleep, or have a nightmare or something, you know I'm right next door. Come get me?"

She leaned against him, eyes closed and smiling peacefully. "Don't I always?"

Dean took one last look at her before he shut off the lights and shut the door. He felt a little better watching her snuggle into her blankets with her teddy bear. She was home, safe and sound, with them. She was safe. They would protect her again, like always. Everytime Lucifer or Remiel came they would protect her. He leaned against her closed door for a moment after, just taking a breath. The thought of what Lucifer could have done to her after what they'd done together when he was a demon shook and angered him to the core. He'd get the son of a bitch back one day for all he'd done to Zarya. Whatever it took.

* * *

Zarya's eyes opened to a dimly lit, watery darkness. She was floating and ice cold. When she could make out more of her surroundings she saw a car in the water with her; a Cadillac DeVille to be specific. Someone was pounding at the windshield, their hits growing weaker and weaker until finally the pressure from the water helped break it all. Her lungs started working again, needing oxygen suddenly as a small person came floating out of the broken windshield. As she started to choke, unable to swim through the water even an inch, she could see that the small person was herself. She could feel the water filling her lungs all over again until everything went entirely black.

When her eyes opened again, she was at the hospital. EMTs had pulled her from the water and she sprung to life before they could write time of death. She had started to panic which was normal, and fight them, but it didn't calm down when they made it to the hospital. She watched as her childhood self thrashed and screamed, the horrid noise echoing down the entire hallway. The doctors tried sedative after sedative but nothing would keep her down for more than half an hour. Each time she woke up screaming louder, pleading that they don't let her go back to sleep. She couldn't bear to see her parents' bodies again before the flames.

" _What flames?"_ they all asked her.

She cried to every doctor, nurse, social worker, and passerby about meeting the devil. She knew he didn't like to be called that and she didn't like being called certain names so she called him the blue eyed angel. That was what he told her he was, wasn't it?

" _I'm an angel, sweetheart. My name is Lucifer."_

She pleaded that he was real, that he was coming back for her. It wasn't her time, he told her. She could describe Hell and the Cage in perfect detail but still no one would believe her. She cried and screamed for two days. They were about to sign off on sending her to a special facility when Elijah Mikaelson walked into the hospital. As soon as he started to compel her the scene changed, warping like some awful acid trip. She could still hear Elijah's voice echoing through as everything changed.

" _You're alright, sweet child. You're safe. There was an accident."_ He told her calmly. Everything became dark and red.

" _It was an awful accident that you don't need to ever remember, Zarya. Two people died. But it was nobody that you knew."_ Fire illuminated everything dimly, the shadow of a cage barely seen.

" _You saw the accident on the news with your parents, Derek and Louise Deighton. You were safe at home in your mother Louise's lap."_ She found her child-self laying on the ground near the Cage, slowly coming to.

" _Everything you thought you knew before, forget it. Forget the Vasile name, forget Siya and Nikolas, forget everything. Each time you try to resurface a childhood memory, it will be an average childhood memory with Derek and Louise Deighton."_ She tried to yell to the child as her curious eyes wafted up to the Cage but found she had no voice and couldn't move.

" _Your name is Zarya Maxine Clarke Deighton. Your birth date is December 20, 1989. That makes you four years old to date. Your very beloved and best friend Nick is two years older than you."_

It was so dark it was almost difficult to tell but she could have sworn she saw a figure moving about the darkness. "I can see you," her child self spoke boldly to the shadowy figure. "Well… sort of. Who are you?"

" _The crash on the news scared you and Nick comforted you, assuring you it was just some random act of fate to a couple. You did not die and go to Hell. You did not meet any angel or devil that could have saved your life. There is no reason for Lucifer to want you."_

"Who are you?" the child's voice spoke into the darkness. Her legs shook a little, but curiosity got the best of her. A flash of red eyes illuminated suddenly which startled her. The scarlet faded down to a deep blue under the surrounding flames. She knew blue eyes. Her dad had blue eyes and Nick had blue eyes. She stepped closer and smiled up at the man.

" _You will not remember my coming here or saying any of this to you. You will only live by the words you have heard. Grow, love and be loved, believe in yourself, and above all else, little Zarya, survive."_

"You shouldn't be down here, sweetheart," he told young Zarya as he knelt down to her level. "So I'm going to have to send you back."

"Do I have to? I know my mom and dad didn't make it out…"

"You will survive without them, little one. And one day I'll come back for you."

"Up there?" She pointed to the sky.

He nodded. "Up there. When I'm free."

"Do you promise?"

She could see the smirk from where she was frozen. The smirk that sent a chill down her spine no matter what face (or shadowed face) he wore. She tried again to scream and run when ice encased her feet and began creeping up.

"I promise I will come back for you one day, Zarya Vasile."

" _Whatever it is that tries to knock you down or make you think your life is not worth living, you prove it wrong. You are strong enough as you are. Do not ever feel the need to change for your survival. Fight through life just as you are, Zarya Deighton."_

Zarya awoke with a gasp, bolting upright in her bed. Sweat poured down her face and neck as she fought to catch her breath. It was the first time her memories actually hit her, finally having the chance to. She wasn't drunk and borderline high on sex. She was relaxed and had tried to sleep. She had been vulnerable. Her hand ended up on top of the thick gauze that covered her butchered side.

" _And, above all else, little Zarya, survive."_

" _Survive, Zarya Vasile. Survive and be proud of who you are."_

That's all she'd done since that day was fight to survive. It was also no wonder why she had zero desire to even think about turning into a vampire. Her eye twitched a little when the sounds of her screaming in the hospital haunted her. She had felt so calm in Hell standing right by the Cage, and came back in hysterics. Was it because she hadn't wanted to leave? Or had she realized the truth when she was back on Earth and being in Hell beside Lucifer was like some kind of sedative? The memories and thoughts started to make her head throb so she forced herself to her feet and padded her way towards the kitchen.

She was curious to find the light on and poked her head around the corner slowly, not sure what combination of the boys might be awake. She eased up a little when she smelled coffee and found only Sam on his laptop. "What are you doing awake and walking?" He asked with a gentle smile. "It's like four in the morning."

"I could smell the coffee," she grinned and mostly lied before pouring herself a mug.

"Try again," he teased as she sat across from him.

The ravenette sighed and took a small sip of the still hot coffee. "My brain is finally processing all of the memories Daciana restored for me. I got a rush of a handful of ones from the accident and it woke me up."

Sam pushed his laptop away a few inches to focus on the conversation. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

She rubbed her face. "Honestly I'd rather not, but I know if I don't that's what the son of a bitch wants me to do…"

His gaze to her turned entirely empathetic. "If you need someone to talk about Lucifer to, you can talk to me, Zarya. If it wasn't for you, because of everything else he planned and did with Azazel, I would have ended up his vessel. And between you and me, I don't think I could have fought him and won."

She looked up at him with big, glimmering eyes. "So that day in Detroit, you were really ready to say 'yes' to him with the thought in the back of your head that he was going to win?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah… and my only bargain would have been that he didn't touch you and Dean. That he would zap you somewhere far away, just the two of you. Out of the game for real and for good."

"That's sweet of you, Sam. But why? Why would you give up everything to Lucifer just for that?"

"Because you and Dean are good for each other." He didn't miss a beat to answer her. "If something were to happen, I just want to know you and my brother will remain together. Never let each other go."

"Where is this conversation going, Sammy?"

 _There,_ he thought, barely able to hide the smile. _Right there every time you act like Dean. Everytime he stares at you and held you at night._

"It's been, what, five years? We've worked probably hundreds of cases together. Spent hours in the Impala and crappy motels." She smiled as she drank her coffee, listening to him. "You and my brother aren't exactly subtle people. You're pretty obvious, and painfully thickheaded."

The smile flipped into a sassy frown over the mug as she eyed him. "Sometime this year?"

Sam smiled softly and rolled his eyes. "You know why the Mark of Cain mirrored itself onto you, don't you? The very same reason it was mirrored onto Saskia from Cain - because no matter what's happened to her, what damaged her emotionally, she managed to fall in love with Cain and accept his darkness and path as her own."

Zarya had sat back in her seat with an unreadable expression. Beneath her side of the table her hand grasped tightly at where the Mark laid on her forearm underneath the sleeve. Still she could find no magic switch to turn off and felt no desire to turn and find one. "You want honesty hour?" Her voice started off quiet and a little shaky. "Off the top of my head I could not begin to tell you the precise moment it happened, but you're right, I fucked up just like she did. I fell for Dean. And I'll fight tooth and nail everyday by his side 'till it kills me." Tears began welling in her eyes.

"Why do you say it like that, like it's such a bad thing? You two are great for each other; you need each other."

"That's what's bad, Sam!" Her voice cracked. "Lucifer and Remiel will never stop hunting me just like Klaus Mikaelson hunting Katherine Pierce. Just like the hit out on all Vasiles. One way or another I don't make it out alive. I'm not trying to have someone always about to sacrifice their life for mine or have to feel the grief of losing me because they will. And altered memories or real ones, I never pictured myself committed to anybody. I'm a good hunter and an okay friend. Anything after that is a hot mess followed by a disaster."

Sam was appalled, to say the least. He had felt weak compared to Lucifer when he thought about having to fight in his own head, but Zarya ran from any kind of love and affection her whole life. Was she the real reason her and Nick loved each other from afar and called it being best friends?

"You know, it's bad enough that I'm gonna have to have a similar talk with Dean, but I'm used to him trying to play savior by now. And I know you're pretty thick, but I thought even you could see what good Dean does for you. You've been to and through Hell and when you're with each other I've never seen you both more alive. I got out for a while a long time ago. I went to Harvard and I had a great woman I loved endlessly. When I realized I couldn't have that because of Azazel and Lucifer and hunting I just wanted it for my brother who had done more for me than I could ever repay. Honestly, you two wouldn't even have to stop hunting. You'd never let the other die until it was genuinely your time as hunters. Probably surrounded in a vamp nest or at the end of a blade. But as long as it was the both of you, I can promise you - _promise you_ \- that you wouldn't have to fear Lucifer or Remiel or anyone."

A tear slipped from her eye, rolling down her pale cheek and off her jaw. What neither of them knew was that Dean had also awoken. He found Zarya's door wide open with her nowhere in sight but the kitchen light on. He was going to walk right in and join them when he heard everything after 'I fucked up just like she did' and froze against the wall. Slowly and silently Dean made his way back to his bedroom after hearing his brother's promise to Zarya. He leaned against his shut door, eyes looking to the two pictures laying on his desk; one of him and Mary when he was still so small, and the second copy of the photo from Plucky Pennywhistle's.

* * *

" _I'm not getting my picture taken by a clown…" Sam muttered with extreme uncomfortability._

 _Dean even made a face at the idea. "We are still FBI agents, Zare. Don't you think that's a little unprofessional?"_

 _The ravenette grinned and pulled the two in close for the photo. "Yeah, but I'm new to the team and I need pictures for my desk back at Quantico." She started to laugh her loud Zarya laugh which made Dean smile at her just before the flash. Sam really wanted to, but he couldn't take his horrified eyes off the clown with a camera._

* * *

Part of him wanted to turn around and hit the door. Another part wanted to run back into the kitchen and tell her everything would be okay. Everytime he even thought about touching her he would flash back to being a demon with Zarya beneath him. He couldn't let her follow him down the path he was on. The Mark of Cain would kill her one way or another, whether it was literally or from having to kill other people just to feed the desire.

Just as he turned to face the door with his fist balled, a soft knock echoed through the silent room. Dean froze instantly, all of the air stopping in his chest. As he hesitantly reached for the knob a softer, less confident knock sounded. His hand quickly grabbed the knob and opened the door to find Zarya standing outside with tears running down her cheeks. As soon as she looked up at him with those tearful, more green than blue eyes, he grabbed her and held her close to him while she cried.

Dean had let her cry in his arms curled up in his bed for a solid hour before she finally passed out. He laid still just listening to her breaths and heartbeat echoed through the darkness for another couple of hours. Around seven or eight was when he slipped out from beneath Zarya and tucked her into his blankets. He wasn't surprised to find Sam still in the kitchen on his laptop.

"I hope you're still staring at that thing because you found a case," he told Sam tiredly as he got a cup of coffee. Sam had recently put on a fresh pot.

Sam couldn't help but make a face at the statement. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Dean? I _just_ cured you from being a Knight of Hell, everything with Zarya and the Mark…"

"I need to work, Sammy. I need something normal to our day to day."

He let out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Have patience, Sam,_ he reminded himself. _They'll use their brains eventually._

"There's three kills in the same town in the last month. Durham, Washington. Looks like werewolves."

Dean slapped the table as he sat down. "See? That's a milk run; in and out."

"Right. Because that happens… Never." The younger brother let out a sigh. "What about Zarya though? She can't be out in the field with her side still healing."

He knew Sam was right. It was far too dangerous for Zarya to step foot out of the bunker. There was no doubt Lucifer and Remiel had eyes out for Zarya all over the Earth. She was also held back by the fresh and healing mutilation on her side. She'd been through Hell and back essentially for weeks. She wasn't ready to be in the field.

Dean rubbed his face before taking a large sip of his coffee. "She'll be alright here. We'll have Cas check on her, she can call us, we'll call her probably every other hour, and be back by the next day."

"Are you sure, Dean? You really think she'll be okay alone here?"

"Quite frankly, no I don't. But we can't just ignore a case."

"We could call some guys, have 'em fix it."

"We can handle it, Sammy. Zare is never truly alone. I'll even call Jody and see if she can drive down or something. We'll be right back."

"I'll be alright," came the ravenette's soft voice in the doorway. She stood there with her arms wrapped around herself and eyes tired from crying and lack of sleep. "Dean's right - this should be a milk run for you guys. I could do with some genuine 'me time'." She offered a peaceful smile.


	18. Reminders of Innocent Youth

18: Reminders of Innocent Youth.

It took plenty more convincing and assuring and getting Zarya dressed with her wound cleaned for the day first, but eventually Sam and Dean were packing their bags for the job. Zarya plopped down in one of the chairs at the table with her laptop, notebooks, pens, and folders while the brothers packed. Each of them reminded her of something she already knew like concerned parents leaving their teenager at home for a night.

"If you start feeling any type of way call for Cas."

"If your dressing needs to be changed and Jody is still too far out then you have to call for Cas."

"You might have to walk him through it but he's getting used to dealing with stuff like this."

"Please don't forget or ' _forget_ ' to eat at least once today."

"As soon as you even consider needing one or both of us just call."

By the end of it all she was leaning her elbow on the table with her head in her hand staring at the brothers with a hopeless smile. When they were finally done the smile broke into a small grin. "Well, I didn't hear 'don't get wasted'." She shrugged and pulled a bottle of whiskey from beneath the table.

Their brows raised right up and Dean started to laugh. "Keep the throw up contained then."

"All over your bed. Got it. Get out of here, both of you." She laughed and smiled up at both of them.

Sam walked over and gave her a tight hug around her shoulders. "One call away, Clarke." He winked at her before handing her an old looking piece of paper.

Her eyes widened at the name before she scrambled to open the paper. It was her _original_ birth certificate, yellowed with age. The very first there ever was that Siya had kept in her belongings. In thick, surprisingly barely faded, ink read her full name, birthdate, birth place and parents' names.

 _ **ZARYA MAXINE CLARKE VASILE  
**_ _ **SEPTEMBER 20, 1987 at 12:47PM**_

 _ **MOTHER: SIYA MAXWELL-VASILE (CLARKE)  
**_ _ **NOVEMBER 17, 1967**_

 _ **FATHER: NIKOLAS MAXWELL  
**_ _ **APRIL 23, 1964**_

 _ **ANNE ARUNDEL MEDICAL CENTER  
**_ _ **ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND  
**_ _ **x. ELIZABETH KIRK CNM MD**_

She stared at the information and city seal in awe. Real, paper proof of who she was. Completely undoctored. It even still smelled like her mother's perfume if she really paid attention. Her bottom lip jut out at the taller, younger brother. "Where the hell did you find this?" She asked as she stood on her chair to hug him again.

"Actually…" He looked to Dean briefly. "In _our_ mom's stuff." He walked over to a bookshelf and took down a folder, giving it to the ravenette. "Turns out before she met Nikolas, she came from a family of hunters that was friends with our mom and the Campbells. Her mom, uh, Audra, seemed to be our mom's teacher for a while. Our mom watched Siya when she was young. All the other hunters called her Clarke when she grew up."

She thumbed over Siya's picture and the polaroid with Mary when they were young. Mary looked like she was in her late teens while Siya was a cheeky kid. "She never stopped…" She breathed. "God it makes sense now…"

"What makes sense?" Dean questioned, walking behind her and reading over her shoulder.

"When Daciana gave me my memories back, I got _everything._ My entire childhood. That's six years worth of memories and I remember a lot of nights with just my dad. My mom would go out for one day, two days, maybe even a week at least once or twice a month. We'd have no way to contact her or know when she was coming back, just that she always was. Sometimes she came back fine, sometimes she had cuts and bruises…"

"Hunting really was in your blood then," Dean said quietly behind her. "Look at that," he pointed to something in the papers. "Six shooter revolver. Guess you're a sharp shot like your mom. Oh! That reminds me, actually." He reached into his belt loop, taking something out and handing it to her. "Sammy grabbed it before leaving," he tossed a smile to his brother as the ravenette smiled at her revolver in his hand.

Zarya closed the file, putting it on the table before taking her gun from Dean. It was oddly comforting to feel the cool metal in her hand again. She opened the chamber and found a few bullets before flipping it closed and spun into place. She stood back up on the chair and pulled the two brothers in for a hug as tight as she could manage. When she sat back down and started up her laptop, Dean looked over his shoulder at her one more time. He watched her slip her glasses onto her face when she caught him looking her way. She smiled, her eyes gleaming even behind the frames, and waved goodbye. Sam had made it halfway up the stairs when he realized and looked down to his brother.

After a hesitant decision made, Dean walked back towards Zarya. She looked up to him with confusion as he walked around the table to her. With one hand on his bag, he put the other around her and kissed her forehead for a long minute. Her eyes started to flutter shut when he took a step back, leaving a hand on her cheek. "I promise we'll be right back, Zare. I will always come back for you."

She smiled up at him, putting her small hand on top of his. "I know you will. Just go kill those wolves."

As soon as the door closed behind the brothers and the cool air hit their faces, Sam turned to his brother. "If things go sideways… I mean, like, an inch, you gotta give me the heads-up."

Dean nodded curtly, staring forward and taking the keys to the Impala out of his pocket. "You have my word. We're making it back to Zare."

* * *

Zarya cracked her knuckles and started typing furiously on her laptop. At first, she had wanted more information on Siya and Audra Clarke the hunters and their friendship to Mary Winchester when she was still a Campbell. Not much had come up, aside from what she already knew. She took a quick break for a couple of shots. That was when she found some school records.

Siya Clarke was born in Detroit to Audra Clarke-Vasile and Ramsey Levitt. She was given her mother's surname, but her brother got their father's - Ryder Levitt. She excelled in public school, but by her sophomore year she was missing classes more frequently. It was a trend that started halfway through eighth grade and grew steadily. She missed almost her entire junior year. There were nurse's reports about Siya coming to school with bruises. Nothing was ever done about it. Still, she managed to graduate. Her senior year she had tried harder to not miss days and classes. After that she applied to Whitmore College in Virginia. Had she been trying to escape the hunter life? Or her family in Detroit? Zarya heaved a sigh, removed her glasses, and padded her bare feet into the kitchen for a snack.

"That's my boys," she grinned when she saw the ice cream sandwiches. Dean always had his pies, and she had ice cream sandwiches. When she sat back down, she stopped researching her mom and tried Katia Vasile instead.

" _Rya…"_

She nearly sprung out of her chair when she heard the voice. Her head turned slowly, looking around her little area. When her heartbeat finally calmed back down, she returned to her research. She found the buried birth certificate Zina had filled out the day her daughter was born. Zina chose her daughter's name; Katia Marin Vasile. Born February 19, 1858. She dug deeper and deeper until she found a few pages of what was assumed to be Zina's old journal. A couple of the pages were definitely faked, but the last one - the one in tatters and barely legible - that one was undoubtedly real. It was written in Romanian with flawless yet original handwritten cursive in ink.

 _They are real, and they are not privy to Romania._

 _He was a monster. A beast._

 _Burned my upper arms._

 _Fire from his hands._

 _Must have been one of the royals._

 _I feel disgusting. Used. Afraid._

 _Can he find me again?_

 _And they say the strigoi are our enemy._

"Strigoi…?" Zarya muttered as she typed the word into her search engine. Hundreds of articles on Romanian vampire lore appeared on the screen. They were depicted as the lowest of the low in vampire society; damned to the dark with monstrous fangs and the need to kill. Get one's blood in your mouth and you would be in the turning process. "The Alpha bloodline," she realized. Those were the strigoi to the Vasiles.

According to the lore, opposite the strigoi were moroi: more classified and civilized vampires. They could live amongst humans, generally with some sort of defect to UV rays. There was a small society of moroi that had been held in high regard for centuries - the royal moroi. She was confused though; vampires of any breed cannot procreate.

 _Moroi on Moroi relations will always result in a Moroi offspring. If a male Moroi impregnates a human woman, the offspring will always create a dhampir._

 _Dhampirs are creatures born of Moroi and human blood. They share genes and characteristics from both bloodlines including, but not limited to: a weakness to sunlight (easily burn), heightened strength and senses, and the occasional_ **need** _for human blood._

"Oh hell no," she sweatdropped and shut her laptop. With a sigh, she grabbed her shot glass and poured herself another shot.

" _Rya… Rya, I know you can hear me…"_

Zarya froze completely still, her blood and bones having ran ice cold. That was it; she was alone and he was coming for her. No, surely she was just having some episode of PTSD or something.

" _It's me, Rya. I'm here. Please."_

She felt her heart skip a beat and stood abruptly from her chair. "N-Nick…?" When only silence answered her, her heart broke a little bit but she knew better. She must have been feverish from her wound. With a small sigh she grabbed more gauze wrap and pads and started undoing her dressing. Once she peeled it all away she wanted to let it air for a bit and ended up staring at the gashes across her pale and inflamed flesh. She wasn't sure if she should cry or get angry. She _hated_ seeing the tears across her side knowing what the lines came together to mean. He might as well have just signed his phonetic name into her.

"Do you need help, Zarya?"

She almost jumped when she heard Castiel but she was in a mood and had relatively gotten used to the gesture from angels and demons alike. She looked over at him and ended up nodding. "Yeah, all this did was bum me out. I can hold the pads if you can wrap me?"

Cas gave her a curt nod and started wrapping fresh gauze around her torso. "How are you feeling today?"

"Alive," she answered with a small chuckle. "I found some stuff out about my mom. And Zina's daughter."

"That's good, and productive, isn't it? Is there anything you need that I could get for you?"

The ravenette pondered the question as he tied off the gauze by her hip. Once she shrugged Dean's flannel back on she shrugged and told him, "I guess if you could find some kind of antibiotics to make sure this piece of work doesn't get infected that'd be nice."

She couldn't say she was shocked when he vanished. In fact, she started ticking off the seconds on her fingers. Before she even reached ten the angel had returned with an orange pill bottle extended to her. "I don't know if you're allergic to anything but this is from an intensive care unit. Someone there was on it with a gunshot wound to the leg. His girlfriend caught him cheating."

Sometimes Cas' awkwardness never failed to make her smile. She took two of the pills with a bottle of water she also had at the table and gave the angel a hug. It was a gesture he was still uncertain about, but she didn't want a long hug anyway. As they parted, just before Cas vanished, something clattered to the floor. A book had fallen off a high shelf.

"Must have been loose," Zarya muttered.

"Are you sure? I can check around if you prefer."

She chuckled a little. "I'm fine, Cas. Check back in two hours if you really want. It was just a book that fell."

After Cas was gone, Zarya walked over to the fallen book. It had opened when it landed, Shakespeare's _Sonnet 35_ displayed on the pages staring up at her. She knelt down and touched the pages delicately as she read.

" _No more be grieved at that which thou hast done.  
_ _Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;  
_ _Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,  
_ _And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.  
_ _All men make faults, and even I in this,  
_ _Authórizing thy trespass with compare,  
_ _Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,  
_ _Excusing these sins more than these sins are.  
_ _For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense—  
_ _Thy adverse party is thy advocate—  
_ _And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence.  
_ _Such civil war is in my love and hate  
_ _That I an áccessory needs must be_

 _To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me…"_

Zarya took the old book in her lap, touching the words gingerly. Blue eyes flashed in her memory. Boyish, sandy hair. The most innocent smile. "Nick…" She breathed. "You read this to me before, haven't you?"

* * *

" _Who knew you were such a poetry nerd?"_

" _Shut up, Rya. What did you think of it?"_

" _It was nice. Meaningful. Like you always are."_

* * *

"You knew I was getting depressed," she told no one in particular quietly. "You didn't realize how much that stupid poem actually helped." Tears started to well in her eyes as she recalled the memories. "Then I blamed myself for Sarah's death because you could have been home to protect her and your daughter if you weren't worried about walking me home from work and you told it to me from memory. At their funeral!" She sniffled and shook her head. "Our lives weren't supposed to be like this, Nick…"

"But this is the way it is, Rya."

She leapt to her feet, the book tumbling to the floor. She swore her teary eyes were lying to her. It was a fever dream; a hallucination from the drugs and injury. She could not have been staring up into the face of Nick Rowell again. "I've finally cracked," she spoke more to herself with a pained voice.

Nick stepped closer to her with the softest, most comforting smile she hadn't seen in a long time. His hand reached out and hesitated in the air momentarily before he laid it gently on her upper arm. Zarya jumped nearly out of her skin when she felt the touch. "It's me, Rya. I promise. I don't know what's going on but it's all madness between Heaven and the Other Side." He reached up and put his other hand on her other arm, causing her to sniffle and sob a little. "It took me a while but I figured out how to see you. I don't know how long I have but I'm here, Rya."

Zarya started to tremble and shake her head, tears streaking her cheeks. Part of her almost started to twitch, swearing it was Lucifer fucking with her again. _And again and again and again._ There was nothing she could even do to have him prove it was really Nick. Lucifer was in his head just like he was hers; there were no secrets. Nick could see that all in her eyes and her face. How she wanted desperately to believe it was Nick but all she could see was Lucifer.

 _But Lucifer had been through her head_ before _Daciana restored her childhood memories. He could only pull some of her memories forward afterwards._

"Look at me, look at me, Rya," his hands grabbed her face. "You had to spend your fifth birthday with me and my parents. The whole weekend. Siya and Nikolas said they had a business trip they were going on but they came home Sunday night looking like they'd been having a domestic all freakin' weekend. Your dad was way more beat up than your mom and we all made fun of him for it for weeks after."

Zarya had closed her eyes listening to his words, the specific memory coming right to her. When her eyes opened again, tears gathering on her long lashes, she could see the familiar light in Nick's eyes. She threw her arms around him and started to sob so loud it echoed through the entire bunker. She remembered how miserable she was the entire weekend. When she laid down for a nap Nick stayed up and baked a little cake with his mom. She kept candles in a junk drawer and stuck five little, purple candles on the cake. Nick practically dragged her and her teddy out of bed when it was done. It felt so nice to Zarya to finally be able to relish in a halfway decent memory of her past that was real. Real and not known to anyone who wasn't there before she was compelled.

"It's okay, Rya," he whispered as he smoothed down the messy strands poking out of her braid. "I've been able to check on you from time to time, you know. I watched you read all of Bobby's books cover to cover the night you decided you wanted to be a hunter. I saw the all nighters trying to solve a case and the rounds of drinks to celebrate when you killed the thing. You found your way out, Rya. You found the life you were meant to lead."

She sniffled, wiping her face a little, and stepped back. "How much did you know growing up…?"

He gave a little sigh, unable to look away from the eyes he'd missed so much. "I knew everything." Her eyes widened. "The Rowells and Deightons are two families that swore fealty to the Vasiles. Our families have been allies for centuries. When Siya found out that the Vasiles traced back to Lucifer, and her and her daughter were the only human Vasiles left she knew it was only a matter of time. Everything was to protect you."

Zarya took another step away from him. She was starting to grow anxious. "Is that… is that why you were my friend? Because your family swore fealty to mine? That's why you cared so much?"

"What? No! Rya, no! I genuinely care about you still. It has nothing to do with my family. I couldn't have been more glad that that circumstance is what allowed me to be close to you. It's because of my family that I got to see you everyday. We got to go to school together. We could stay together."

"Then, if you knew everything, why did you say 'yes' to Lucifer?"

Nick looked away from her at last, guilt and what seemed to be shame in his eyes. "Because… because all I had left was you. I couldn't protect Sarah, I couldn't protect you anymore. I knew I couldn't as soon as he came to me. I knew it was over. He was the one who saved you in that car accident. He brought you back to life. He could do what I couldn't anymore."

He had played them both the entire time. While he spent years, eons, plotting the Apocalypse and the Winchesters, he _knew_ about Zarya. She practically walked herself right down to him to say hi. Everything to that very moment was probably plotted out by Lucifer from the start. Every word, every epiphany, even Runa and Adina. Oh, God, was she _pissed_.

Zarya threw her arms back around the technical ghost of her best friend. "I'm going to fuck up an archangel, I swear to his deadbeat Dad."

Nick started to laugh. They were quiet a moment, just enjoying each other's company. After they finally let go, he had a rather solemn look on his face. "Like I said… I don't know how much time I have here. I kind of need to bring up a couple of things you'd usually slam your door in my face for."

She knew exactly where he was going to go and tried to shut him down. "No. Hell no. Nick, don't do this right now. We might have ten minutes or two hours."

"Yeah, but there isn't exactly any doors for you to slam in my face here." He offered a small smile. "Now, quite frankly, I'm with Dean for what the son of a bitch did to you."

She bit her lip and shook her head, tugging the flannel tighter around herself. "No. You did not see that."

"Yeah, I did." His voice was barely above a whisper. "And you know something? I could not be more goddamn proud of you, Zarya Vasile." Her eyes widened with surprise before more tears came. "When you lose somebody there is no candle, no prayer that is gonna make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody you cared about used to be. I thought that hole was going to consume what was left of you but it didn't at all. You patched it right up, got up, and kept fighting. I was relieved when you finally started to accept my death, then I saw you watch Dean die."

"Stop doing this, Nick."

He ignored her entirely. "You're so strong, Rya. You never needed me. But you let yourself need me. It's okay to let yourself need Dean too. Sam was right - you two are so good for each other."

"No, we're not," she argued as she whipped back her sleeve and showed him the mirrored Mark on her arm. "Darkness and malice will always try to take us. We are _not_ Saskia and Cain. We can't… I can't have something normal. Nothing about my life is normal. I don't get that white picket fence and cherry pie."

"No, but you can have gunpowder and silver blades and all the damn pie in the world because trust me, I've seen Dean scarf down pie after pie. I didn't think I could see someone worse than you and your stupid ice cream sandwiches. Siya was a hunter through and through. Nikolas not so much. But you and Dean are one hell of a team with or without Sam and Castiel. It's okay to need someone and care about them even if you're afraid you'll lose them."

Silent tears had started cascading from Zarya's eyes. She knew he was right. She knew Sam had been right. "Have you… have you seen my mom at all? I don't know if that's a thing…"

"Actually, I did recently when I reached the Other Side."

"She's not in Heaven?"

"Vasiles… Vasiles are still supernatural creatures even if they're technically human. They have special properties in their genetics or something. Probably the result of nature needing balance or whatever it is? So all Vasiles go to the Other Side when they die. I did see Siya though. She was waiting for me to show me the way through. She wanted to make sure I told you she's proud of you too and loves you. And someone I didn't recognize was with her."

"Did they give you a name? Or were they just helping my mom?"

"No, she had a message for you too. Said her name was Zina Vasile and if you're still looking for Katia then wait and one of them will find you."

Zarya's eyes were huge with all she'd just discovered. She could barely think, let alone speak. She felt Nick's arms around her again but it didn't feel like it had the first time. It felt… less real. Like he was vanishing right before her. She knew it must be coming then and wrapped her arms around what she could of him.

"You're gonna be just fine, Rya," he whispered in her ear with a hand on the back of her head. "Those Winchesters won't let anything happen to you. They'll always come for you. Dean will always come for you." He placed a small kiss on her temple. "Stay strong and survive, Rya. I love you, brat."

She got to see him smile one more time before purple smoke and a white light took him away. Her knees started to buckle when she realized she was all alone again but she caught herself before she could fall and dragged herself back to the table. With a shaking hand she reached out and snatched the whiskey, taking a few large gulps straight from the bottle.

* * *

Zarya admittedly had acknowledged her phone vibrating beside her. By the third set of ringing vibrations she found she was no longer alone. "No, Dean, Zarya is fine," Cas answered her phone. The angel stared down at Zarya with a confused expression as she laid on the table with a basically empty bottle of whiskey in her hand. "It looks like she just got drunk and fell asleep. Well… no. She's on the table. I don't know why she is on the table. It doesn't look very comforting or supportive."

She flopped onto her back, eyes still closed, and reached out for the phone from the angel. When he handed it to her, she brought it to her ear without bothering to move or open her eyes. "I'm fine, guys," she spoke quietly and groggily. "You said nothing about getting wasted. We went over this." She managed a smirk.

"That didn't mean get drunk and pass out," Dean chastised. "Have you even eaten today?"

She let out a small groan. "I had an ice cream sandwich."

"Go fucking eat something."

"What are you gonna do if I don't? Tell Cas to force feed me?"

"If you do not eat I might have to," came Castiel. "If you don't eat well you won't heal well."

A louder groan and she opened her eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. "God, fine. There's a pizza in the freezer."

"And it better be gone by the time we get back," Sam added. "I've seen you borderline swallow a pizza whole."

"This is like jail on opposite day." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "How long did I drunk nap? How's the case?"

There was silence on the other end for a moment which concerned her. Then Sam answered. "It wasn't as easy as we thought it would be but we're on our way back now. Cas had checked on you a couple times and thought you were just napping."

"Then the nap kept going," Dean tossed in.

"I'm fine, damn guys," Zarya laughed a little. "T-minus how long before you're up my ass in person?"

"You still got time so expect like ten more calls in that time."

"Aye, aye Warden Winchester!" She grinned and hung up before he could say anything.

"You know they only care about you," Cas told her as she flipped her legs over the side of the table. "You mean a great deal to them both."

"Yeah, I know. I gotta say, though, I'm not exactly used to the feeling. I mean, the Deightons were great, and Nick gave so much for me," the angel didn't miss the way her voice cracked when she said his name, "but the last five years with Sam and Dean? I'll tell ya, I've never felt more motivated and protected in my whole life."

Cas gave her one of his innocent smiles. "Does that mean you are actually going to eat the pizza on your own?"

She laughed and leaped off the table, squeezing the angel's upper arm gently. "Yes, Cas. I'm going to preheat the oven now. You don't have to stick around in an awkward silence with me while I stuff my face."

Zarya had turned towards the kitchen when he stopped her one more time. "I… I believe Dean said once that you knew how to play an instrument? Would that maybe help you feel better and pass time?"

She blinked a couple of times at him. That was right, she had told Dean in Purgatory that she knew how to play the drums once. With her original childhood memories in tact again she realized it was something that had carried through the compulsion. She got her first drum set from her real mom and dad; from Siya and Nikolas. She had that set for years…

The ravenette smiled softly at the fond memories. "Yeah, actually. It's something I've always been able to do. Before and after the compulsion. I remember for Christmas before the accident my mom and dad got me a huge set. It was like three times my size and I wasn't even that good. But I got to keep it when I became a Deighton and sometimes I'd play it every damn day."

Castiel found himself oddly moved by how genuine she was. He could almost see and feel the memories she was recalling. "Do you remember what the set was? What it looked like?"

She closed her eyes with a smile, the image coming right to her mind. "It was a 1993 Pearl Masters. Custom sapphire sunburst. My dad knew a couple of friends in the industry and was able to get one of the first ones off the line for me. My mom got me these black as night drum sticks but if you looked at them in the light they shimmered indigo and opal. I left them behind when Nick and I left Maryland in, like, 2006."

A few ideas began growing in the angel's mind. He ended up smiling still at her. "I'll be back soon, Zarya. Please don't forget to eat again."

Before she could even promise him she wouldn't forget, he was gone. She shrugged and shook her head as she walked into the kitchen. While she stood near the oven as it preheated, the feeling of deja vu made her uncomfortable. For a moment she was back in Pike Creek, warming up that cup of coffee. She started to feel lightheaded like she had the first time and grabbed the counter harshly. She was flung back to reality, back in the bunker with a chill in the air. The oven beeped, signaling it was preheated for her, but she jumped at the sound. With anger in her demeanor she tossed the frozen pizza on a baking sheet into the oven and let the door slam shut.

Zarya dropped back down in the chair she had been in much earlier and tried her laptop again. She remembered that Siya had a brother - Ryder Levitt. Would those hunting the Vasiles have come for Ryder too? Or was there a chance he could still be alive? She slid on her glasses and started typing when a chill crept back up her spine. She immediately froze still and the scene began changing around her.


	19. My Mind's Like a Deadly Disease

19: My Mind's Like a Deadly Disease.

Zarya was still sitting cross-legged in a chair, but it was her kitchen chair in Pike Creek. Every paper she had on Nick, Sarah, and their daughter's disappearance strewn about around her. Her heart started to race, hands shaking as they hovered above her keyboard. She could almost feel ice creeping up her body. Before it could reach past her ribs she found the will to slam her laptop shut. The gesture managed to shake her back to reality. She grit her teeth and scrambled from her chair towards her bedroom.

She tore through her backpack, bed, drawers, everything. Everytime she started to feel the chill again she'd punch the wall or slam something to refocus. Her head started to throb when she remembered.

* * *

" _Zarya, no!" Dean shouted, lunging for the smaller ravenette. He caught sight of a large crack going through the center of her fluorite._

 _Saskia's face started to change, veins appearing beneath her darkening eyes as her fangs extended. She lunged at her human descendant without a second thought. The skinny girl ducked down and rushed right back, headbutting Saskia in the sternum and shoving her backwards into a wall. With her head bent the way it was she, too, could see that her fluorite was starting to crack and crumble. She gasped lightly, feeling Lucifer's rage catching up to her. She jumped back a bit from Saskia, eyes landing immediately on Dean. He saw, with horror in each of their eyes, as her irises flashed scarlet._

* * *

Her eyes widened in horror. The fluorite was gone. It must have finished shattering when she fell to the floor. " _Fuck!_ " She shouted, her voice echoing down the hall as she grabbed her head. "I have been just fine all fucking day! Even seeing the ghost of my best friend! Not. Fucking. Today!"

She stomped and stormed down the halls until she reached the room where most of the Men of Letters' goodies were. She dug through book after book and box after box looking for _anything_ similar to her fluorite. She couldn't stop the tears from falling when she was flashed back to the night Sarah and her goddaughter were murdered. The walk back home with Nick was no different than any other night; maybe a little colder. But he had shut the front gate when he left, why was it flapping open?

Zarya and Nick ran into his house immediately. She was sick from the fresh scent of death as soon as she was through the door. She saw the bloodied bodies of Sarah and the small infant all over again, their skulls shattered and crushed. Blood pooling all around. Nick grabbed her as soon as they saw and tried to hold her so she couldn't see any more. She was fumbling for her phone again and it fell into a pool of still warm blood. She was back in the bunker when her knees hit the floor. That was when she came across an odd looking box at the bottom of a pile of what the Men of Letters believed to be junk.

The box was older than anything she'd ever seen. It was caked in dirt and dust and rust but something was engraved on the top. Just so much as holding the box made her feel a little more at ease. She cradled it to her chest as she made her way back to the kitchen to check on her pizza. The pizza sat to cool on top of the stove while Zarya grabbed an old rag and a half flat bottle of coke. For the next two hours she worked on eating the entire pizza and cleaning off whatever the box was so she could see the symbol. She finally started making progress after eating the last slice when Castiel returned.

"What is that you have there, Zarya?"

"I have no idea. I found it in some stuff the old Men of Letters labeled as 'junk'. There's some symbol engraved on top but I can't get all of the old and gross off to see what it is."

"Any particular reason you went looking and found this?"

She gave a small sigh and sat back in her seat. "When I got in that bar fight with Saskia when Dean found me my fluorite broke. I started to feel uncomfortable and went looking for it when I remembered it broke. So I had hoped the Men of Letters had some kind of protective stones or something but I found this instead. It started to make me feel better which made me more curious." Hardly a lie at all, right?

"Maybe I could offer some help?"

Zarya shrugged and slid the box across the little kitchen table towards him. He stepped closer and put a hand over the box. As his eyes glowed and a light emitted from his hand, bits of the filth started chipping off the box. Just when they thought they were making more progress, the box seemed to react. Cas' light began to turn purple and electrify. Once the purple consumed his light it jolted back at him, sending him flying into the opposite wall.

"Cas!" The ravenette shouted, flying out of her seat and over to him. "Cas, are you okay? What was that?"

His eyes looked wide and fearfully ahead at the box as more dirt shredded off. "That box… was Remiel's. Whatever it is and whatever is inside she didn't want just some angel stumbling across."

The two stood and walked cautiously towards the table. They both recognized the way the lines came together for the symbol. The 'V' with arrow tips and snake-like infinity loop attached to the bottom point. Remiel's sigil. What could have possibly been inside? Why did it make Zarya feel protected against everything crumbling?

"Zarya, I wouldn't-" Cas tried to advise as her hand outreached for the box.

Her hand trembled a little above the strange metal before settling gently on top of Remiel's sigil. She traced her fingers around the lines when it pricked her finger enough to bleed. A few drops spilled onto the sigil and gears were heard turning and unlocking. Castiel pulled the ravenette back a couple of feet. They looked at one another once it finished and the top slid over to create an opening. Cas moved first but the purple electricity crackled again, warning him to back up. Hesitantly, Zarya moved towards the box.

"It's some kind of rock," she told him by peering in from above. "Or a stone maybe? Do I pick it up? Or is it gonna suck me into another universe or something?"

"I don't know what that object is, Zarya. Clearly Remiel was not as golden hearted as we all believed so I can't tell you if that thing is dangerous or not. We should wait for Sam and Dean."

"I know we _should_ ," she spoke softly as she moved closer to it, "but I'm thinking it's designed for Vasile blood only. Kind of like Remiel's Stone."

With Zarya in close enough proximity, Castiel was able to get close enough to see the rock. His eyes widened a little when he realized what it was. "That's not just one kind of rock. There are many inside, do you see there? It looks like it's mostly made of black obsidian but there's more kinds inside of it."

"As if she grew the obsidian around them maybe? Do you think they're like the obsidian? Because that's used for all kinds of protection in the magic and pagan communities."

"It sounds like a reasonable assumption, but we would have to question why Remiel would do such a thing. There could be more to it than we're seeing."

"What if I take it out and put it on the table? Then we could see what it actually looks like. I'd like to make you feel better by offering to put on gloves but something tells me this thing wouldn't buy it."

The angel was hesitant to let her, but he figured it would be best to investigate while he was at least with her. Zarya Deighton-Vasile would not let it go easily and he knew that too well. He gave her a curt nod and watched with eyes like a hawk as she reached in with both hands. As soon as her skin touched the rock it began to glow a multicolored hue softly. It fit between both of her small hands easily. Cas could see it's misshape, some parts jutting out and others looking like they'd been chipped away.

"I think those are chunks of fluorite over here," she told him in a hushed tone, eyes mesmerized by the rock.

"And blue kyanite over there," he pointed towards the underside by her palms.

"Labradorite and quartz…"

"I think the outside is a hybrid in itself," Cas realized. The black stone looked more intricate than he could originally see. "It's able to house the other chunks of stone the way it does because it's an obsidian and tourmaline hybrid. Why would she find or make this thing…?"

Zarya's eyes started to widen with her own realization. That girl that called herself Remiel, she wore a long corded necklace with some kind of stone she couldn't see at the end. "It was no coincidence Sam and Dean found that fluorite," she spoke barely above a whisper, staring down at the rock in her hands. "It was a chunk off of this…"

"How can you be sure, Zarya?"

"Look at it, Cas. This thing has been used for _years_. Chipping away chunks of the ultimate protection against any kind of mental, psychic, emotional or whatever attack. She'd been doing this a while and wanted it only for her bloodline. She might have been on the run from Michael, but I'm pretty damn sure this was against Lucifer too."

He sharply inhaled which only confirmed her theories. She couldn't have been too wrong if at all. Michael _and_ Lucifer both sought her out for eons. She essentially created her own empire; her own legion of creatures with fangs and grace completely unnoticed. But _why_? What the hell was Remiel's endgame? And how long did they have to find out?

They agreed to take a chunk off for a necklace just as Remiel had clearly been doing for eons. She even made certain for the rock and box to be used only by a Vasile. Only by her own bloodline. Once the necklace was made and around Zarya's neck she gently placed the rock back in the box and shut the lid. Everything locked back into place, Remiel's sigil staring darkly back at them. Cas watched her return the box to the Men of Letters' junk box.

"Now that that's settled," he actually smiled at her which piqued her curiosity, "I believe I have a present for you."

She looked at him through the corner of her eyes as they walked back towards the main room. "Cas, what have you been up to?" She'd long since forgotten he asked about her drums.

As soon as she laid eyes on them she screamed. She partially regret it right after because it fully expanded her lungs and caused her healing skin to stretch. She almost started to cry as she walked around the entire 1993 Pearl Masters drum set in sapphire sunburst. Every color and shimmer of metal was exactly as she remembered. On top of the little seat laid an old and familiar looking box. She almost didn't want to open it.

"Castiel don't you dare tell me I'm going to open that box and find black drum sticks," she just about sobbed.

Although Cas was still confused about her reaction, he had seen similar before and knew it was still good. He thought for a moment for something Dean might have said to her in response. His lips started to twitch into a very human-like smile. "I won't tell you then." She started to laugh that that was what he retorted with. Naturally the angel in him just couldn't stop shining. "I will tell you that they're not _just_ black drum sticks."

Zarya's hands shook as she reached for the box without taking her eyes off of the angel. Somehow those damn Winchesters and their angel always made her so emotional. She started by only taking a peek and immediately slammed the cover back down. She kept blinking and looking to the ceiling in an attempt at stopping the tears. Finally she flipped off the whole cover to stare down at her own childhood drum sticks. Every knick, ever chip, every bite mark up top from getting bored in class; they were the very ones she'd left behind years ago.

"It was rather tricky to find those drum sticks in particular, mostly because Louise Deighton had held onto them for so long." Cas started to explain. "But it turns out nothing had been moved at all. Derek and Louise had left their home and everything to you." He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, opening it to show her the deed to the Deighton home in Maryland was hers. They had even written it Zarya Maxine Clarke Deighton-Vasile.

Unable to contain herself and blatantly ignoring any amount of pain she was about to feel, Zarya sprinted right to the angel and threw her arms around his neck. "You're too good for this Earth, Cas." She practically sobbed into his shoulder. "Too pure. I know this couldn't have been easy on you right now. Thank you so much."

In one of the small handful of times she could count on one hand, Cas wrapped his arms around her small frame in return. He was careful to not put pressure on her bad side but hugged her back nonetheless. He could almost feel the spark of her spirit fighting to burn bright again. It gave him a sense of pride to have accomplished something so positive for Zarya. When they finally let go, she went right to the drums and broke out her sticks, twirling them around in her fingers like she used to. She was glad she could still even do it. Maybe she wouldn't suck so bad playing again then.

* * *

Sam and Dean were beyond confused when they walked up to the bunker and swore they heard some kind of drumming going on. They contemplated drawing their guns but gave it until they walked in. As soon as they got to the top of the stairs and could hear more clearly, Dean had started tapping his foot. "Is that… is that Enter Sandman?" He half smirked.

Sam rolled his eyes and started heading down the stairs with his brother in tow. When they got to the bottom they could see Zarya with her drums around the corner just banging out Metallica like she never stopped. For extra sound and a refresher she even had the song blaring from a radio behind her. Zarya noticed both of them staring at her while she played. She gave them both a wide grin and kept playing to the song until it was done. They both smiled and started to clap for her.

"Where on Earth did this come from?" Sam asked, looking at the shining and yet old drum set.

"Eastport, Maryland," Zarya grinned up at him. "I don't know where the thought came from in his little angel noodle but Cas found my original drum set and sticks from my childhood. My mom and dad got me this for Christmas and I had it at the Deightons."

"How the hell did Cas find it then? It's still in amazing condition," Dean questioned next.

"Because it never left the Deightons' home in Eastport. And when they died," she handed them the deed, "they apparently left everything to me. So the whole house and all of our belongings are still in the house. Cas grabbed my drums to give me something familiar to do."

"That's amazing," Sam smiled, putting a hand warmly on her upper back. "I'm glad you've been doing alright then."

She shrugged nonchalantly setting her sticks down and cracking her knuckles. "It's been… something else. We're definitely going to have to swap stories over another bottle of whiskey because that one is bone dry now." She grinned. As soon as Sam stepped away and she stood up, that chill forced its way up her spine again. It was so forceful it almost felt like she was being sliced with a blade.

"Zare, what's wrong?" She could just barely hear Dean and feel Sam's hands on her arms.

Her breathing had become ragged, hands clamped tightly around the edge of one of her drums. She could feel some horrific memory trying to resurface and fought so hard with the chunk of protective stone around her neck. Figuring it was another memory to haunt her, she braced herself for just that. When she opened her eyes she realized how horrendously wrong she had been. She figured she could handle a quick flashback regardless. She should have fought harder.

"N-Nick?" Her voice cracked looking into his light blue eyes.

"Rya," he smiled and reached out for her. As soon as she reached for him she saw the change in his eyes and backed up, retracting her hand, before he could grab her. "Rya, it's okay. It's me."

"And you're not Nick," she took a cautious step backwards. "Not anymore. Nick Rowell is in Heaven."

"And Lucifer is in Hell but still managing to parade around in Auriel Cressida and terrorize you," he smirked at her. "See?" His eyes looked down to her side.

Zarya immediately looked at her side and found it bleeding through her wrappings and flannel. She shrieked a little, whipping off the flannel and holding it to her side. "What the hell is this?!" She cried.

"This is humanity's biggest flaw, Rya. So easily harmed, damaged, and broken." He reached out and touched her cheek but she whipped her head away. "You'll give in eventually. All that damage to your noggin, all the questions; you know you're safest with me, Rya."

"I've hallucinated Lucifer before. How about you just shove it?" She hissed through grit teeth. She was getting dizzy from the bloodloss. "You wanna keep tossing me down shitty memory lane? Go ahead. I've been tortured and played by the devil, my entire life has been built on lies, and I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I won't let you get to me." She fell to her knees, panting.

Lucifer bent down to her level with a mocking look of pity. "That's the best part though - _I already have._ Let's try this again then, Rya. Come on, say it with me, sweetheart. _Good morning, Vietnam!_ "

She outright screamed against him, making him laugh in her face. Everything turned dark and next thing she knew she was back in the shipping container. Zarya screamed again. She leapt to her feet and started tugging on the chains, panicking at how real and cold they felt in her hands. She thrashed and screamed at the top of her lungs when her side began pouring blood again. She fell against the back wall and to her knees feeling the slices and cuts all over again.

A loud noise caused her to curl in a ball in fear. When she finally looked up from her knees she saw that the walls of the container had fallen, rotted iron bars taking their place. Everything was black and red and surrounded in fire. Zarya scrambled towards the bars and recognized the outside from her view as a child. Her heart was about to pound out of her chest.

"Welcome back, Rya."

Her fists gripped the bars until the knuckles turned white. She screamed at the top of her lungs, the horrific sound echoing through the emptiness of that seclusion of Hell. Behind her, Lucifer started to laugh.

In the bunker, Sam had caught Zarya when she finally started to fall. Both he and Dean tried shouting her name, jostling her gently, tapping her cheeks, anything. Her temperature was dropping rapidly, heart rate and breathing becoming shallow and quiet. At one point, Dean took her from his brother's arms in his own desperate hope of waking her up.

"Please, Zare, wake up," he practically cried over her. "Cas!" He shouted towards the ceiling.

In an instant the angel responded, appearing beside them. His eyes widened with a deep fear. "What happened?"

"We don't know," Sam tried to explain. "She was happy and playing the drums but as soon as she stood she looked like she was getting sucked into a horrifying trance."

"Can you help her?" Dean asked through grit teeth up at Cas. The look in his eyes knew it was a longshot but the angel couldn't help but to try.

He knelt down and put a hand on her forehead. It took a minute, but he was finally able to see what she was seeing. He watched her tiny hand slide down the bars of the Cage before the scene changed to the alley in Indiana. The sound of Metatron's angel blade piercing Dean's chest echoed through the sky, filling Zarya's ears. Cas could practically feel her heartache. When he looked to her though he could see something other than pain. She figured something out.

Everything began to change again and Castiel found them in Mystic Falls. Her boots thudded against the pavement as she walked down the street with her head held high and side still profusely bleeding. He tried to call out to her, see if maybe he could get through. She just kept walking. The town was strangely empty and yet she kept walking. She finally darted down a driveway on a quieter street. Cas noted a sign outside the building; the Salvatore Boarding House. By the time he was done looking at the sign, the front door was starting to close with Zarya inside. Cas rushed towards the door, putting his hand between just in time.

"Well it's about damn time," he heard Damon Salvatore's voice.

"Just turn it off," Nova's added alongside him.

When Cas came around the corner he nearly dropped. Nova and Damon surrounded Zarya whose head was lowered. Daciana laid across the couch, Saskia and Carina in chairs. When Zarya turned to face Cas, she had blood dripping from her mouth and chin and dark, emotionless eyes. "Sorry, Cas," she told him apathetically.

The angel was thrust out of her mind then, stumbling back a few paces. Both brothers looked to him for some kind of explanation. "Her mind… it's… it's pure chaos. All of her true memories, the damage Lucifer inflicted, all she continues to unravel about the Vasiles… it's almost worse than when she hallucinated Lucifer from the disconnection."

"What are we supposed to do?" Sam asked as he looked between the latter two men. "That alone almost turned her brain to goo. Now she has actual memories of drowning, dying, going to Hell, and coming back to life. And it's not like she can just…" He trailed off, glance going to his brother when he realized what he was about to say.

Though it wasn't a circumstance that made Dean happy, none of what was happening was. "And it's not like she can just go on a hunting binge because of her side and the Mark of Cain on her arm. She kills too much and it'll ruin her. Not happening."

 _That must have been the final part I witnessed,_ Cas realized. _If she gives in and feeds the darkness she will end up with her ancestors…_

They laid her in her bed while she remained unconscious and kept continuous watch over her. It took nearly three hours before she stirred. Her head throbbed, prompting a groan as she awoke. What an accomplishment it was when she finally forced herself to sit up. Zarya still had not opened her eyes as her head hurt so badly. When she finally did, she let out a shriek for she was once again in her Pike Creek bedroom with the purple walls. Her eyes widened with horror and she went running down the hall and down the stairs. Everything was still in the same exact place. Every speck of dust. Her breathing became ragged. She nearly leapt out of her skin when the back door opened.

"Well it's about damn time you're awake, Rya," Nick's face smiled at her. "I know it's your day off but you didn't have to sleep until one in the afternoon."

Her green-blue eyes were widened in horror, lips twitching with words unable to form. "What… what the hell is this?" She took a step back and looked down at herself; she was even in an old pair of pajamas she recognized.

Nick walked slowly towards her, his soft smile unwavering. "This is your Thursday off where I take you out to lunch for afternoon drinks because of how much we hate our lives. It's no different than last week or the week before, Rya."

She felt all over herself and could feel each touch and slap graciously. Everything felt so real, but the thoughts and memories of the Winchesters plagued her deeply. Looking Nick in the eyes she would flash between his gallant blue and Lucifer's devilish take on them. Her heart was pounding relentlessly in her chest as Nick continued to advance towards her while she backed up towards her stairs. "No… I couldn't have had such a vivid dream like that. I couldn't just make up your death and Lucifer and the Winchesters and five years of fucking insanity in one night's sleep!"

He stopped suddenly and flicked his tongue against his teeth. It was a gesture that genuinely made her twitch. "I tried, Rya. I tried to do this the nice way and give you something sweet in Pike Creek but you're still clung to those damn Winchesters." Zarya let out a vehement scream and took off running back up the stairs as soon as his eyes changed. Lucifer laughed and followed her slowly. "Your world is whatever I want it to be, Rya! When will you understand that?"

She sped down the hall, nearly slipping but catching herself on a wall. She threw herself into her bedroom and shut and locked the door. "Stay away from me!" She shouted as she began to sweat.

"You never left, Rya. You're still in that box... _with me_." He shouted outside of the door.

Zarya could feel her ice cold window on her back when her side started throbbing. She ripped back the thin fabric of her tank top and gasped at all the blood pouring down her skin. She grabbed a towel that had been discarded on her floor and pressed it as hard as she could to the wound. The immense pain that arose caused the scene to flicker. That was right: when she hallucinated Lucifer those few years ago she could snap to everytime she got hurt or killed something. She would purposely throw herself into danger just to be rid of the volatile hallucinations. She pressed as hard as she could, giving way to an outcry from the pain before falling to her knees.

Lucifer kicked her door open with ease. The look on his face reminded her of the malefic one she witnessed as he murdered the pagan gods. "I'm coming to get you, Rya…"

The darkness consumed the scene as he advanced on her, turning quickly into a blinding light. She thrashed and screamed, finding herself contained somehow. When she returned fully she realized Cas and Dean were restraining her with all their might while Sam desperately tried to tend to her side. She had awoken in a trance and muttered things they couldn't understand while she walked through the bunker. Something startled her in the trance, then induced pure terror. She started to lash out and tear at her gauze and stitches while she screamed a horrific sound. Blood poured down her side, over their hands, and spilled onto the floor. The bloodloss alone was enough to keep her groggy and sedated when the hallucination finally ended. Zarya fell limp in their arms which allowed Sam to actually clean and dress the wound properly.

"What happened…?" She half slurred as they walked her back to her bedroom.

"We think you were hallucinating again," Dean answered quietly. They sat her on the edge of her bed and Sam took a flashlight to her eyes.

Nothing felt right to Zarya. Was she still in that box being tortured endlessly by Lucifer? Was her rescue another hallucination? She couldn't hear them as they discussed her regressing condition. She heard Nick's laughter, his daughter crying, the sounds of her drums in the afternoon, then Lucifer's laughter. Her eye twitched subtly at the sound, head throbbing once again. She heard herself crying, the stupid song she danced with Nick to at their senior prom, one of her old songs she used to strip to, then the roar of the Impala. Her breath caught in her chest, vision seeming to split.

"I think this is going to be my best torture yet."

 _God, no,_ she groaned loudly in her thoughts. She could hear the murmur of Sam, Dean, and Cas arguing but it was half muted even though they were right in front of her. Her gaze wandered between them all and behind them to her desk. Any hope that could have been left within the ravenette shriveled and vanished the second she locked eyes with Lucifer as he sat on her desk.

"Make you believe you're free, and then… yank the wall over your eyes." He smirked. "I told you, Rya; you never left. But you know I don't want you to die, and even if you did I would just keep bringing you back, so I thought I'd let you live your miserable life at least in your mind."

"Fuck, off," she hissed through grit teeth which paused the other trio's argument.

"It's so efficient though, isn't it?" He continued to taunt her. "You get to continue being a hunter without actually ever dying by something so idiotic and I get to make sure you don't go fucking around with Dean Winchester anymore. I'm trying to find some kind of common ground with you, Rya. Work with me. Because I'm not going anywhere."

Her eye twitched yet again as she grit her teeth, fists clenching in her sheets. She had absolutely no clue what was real anymore and what was just her brain positively fried. She fell back onto her mattress with her braid flopped to the side beneath her and arms opened across the bed. The green-blue hue of her eyes was worn and tired and uncertain as they stared up at the ceiling. "Oh, fuck me."


	20. Screaming on the Inside

20: Screaming on the Inside.

The first few days were a rough adjustment. Sometimes if Zarya gripped the chunk of Remiel's protective stone hard enough to imprint her hand it would make Lucifer vanish for a while. The boys tiptoed around her delicately, partially waiting for another episode. Realistically, they feared the archangel had gotten what he wanted and broken whatever was left of her mind and sanity. They weren't sure how much more her mind could take anymore. One morning Sam woke up to find her sitting on the floor with her forehead against the wall. From time to time she would hit her head against the wall enough to feel something but not truly harm herself.

"The longest rendition of Stairway to Heaven I have ever heard in my fucking life," she told him when she realized he was staring. She was thankful when Sam walked away, and even more so when he returned with a hot mug of coffee spiked with whiskey.

The entire weekend Zarya found herself unable to sleep. Each morning Sam or Dean found her in the exact same spot they left her the night before: sitting at her table staring with reddening eyes at her laptop screen. In an effort to tune out Lucifer's stories about himself and Remiel or the occasional fire crackers on the floor, she found herself buried deep in the Romanian vampire lore. Friday night she found all she could about the strigoi which had turned out to be the alpha vampire's sire line. They frequented in nests, unruly appearance, mouthful of sharp fangs, crippled by sunlight and damned to the night. The European, and especially Romanian, Vasiles clearly put them lowest in rank when they stumbled across the breed.

Saturday night was filled with learning about the moroi. In a way they were similar to the Originals' bloodline, but the fact that they could reproduce with certain bloodlines caused her head to throb inexplicably. It was almost as if there was a whole breed in between the alpha's strigoi and Originals. Part of Zarya couldn't help but wonder if it was another purposeful thing placed in the world by Remiel to further her plots.

"It was Saskia, actually."

For a moment, Zarya stopped staring at her screen and looked over the top of her laptop. Lucifer had taken the chair across from her with his feet on the table. She desperately avoided interacting with her hallucination, knowing better than to give into it. Sometimes she doubtfully wondered if it really was Lucifer she was hallucinating. She didn't say anything, but when she met his eyes he smirked and chose to continue. For a little while, at least.

"When Saskia stole the immortality elixir Qetsiyah made, it altered her blood. She was still a nephilim, but she had become a very well protected one. It shielded her human nature, but it wouldn't be permanent and she knew that. Before the Original bloodline was born, she still existed as a technical immortal with special blood."

Zarya cut her eyes at the archangel. She didn't want to feed into the crazy, but she knew damn well there was nothing on Saskia Vasile's adventures on the internet. Nothing she or Sam could find anyways. Begrudgingly, she opened her mouth. It was just an awful figment of her own mind that was projected afterall. "So the moroi came after Saskia drank the elixir and before Esther Mikaelson used a spell to turn her children into vampires nicer than the alpha's line?"

Lucifer chuckled. "Where do you think Esther got the spell to turn her kids? Why do you think it was a whole new breed of vampire? Saskia had to find a race she liked for herself. The Alpha's, those strigoi or whatever, were definitely not good enough for her taste." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"But the moroi couldn't turn her," Zarya realized. "Moroi don't turn people, they _make_ them!"

"Ding, ding! Now how did the moroi line come to exist, Rya?"

She thought for the quickest second before the answer befell her. "Saskia's blood after she took the elixir! She was trying to make her own line by feeding it to humans but they became vampires that could reproduce rather than turn and she abandoned the project when it didn't benefit her anymore."

"And those Winchesters think your brain isn't intact because of me." He scoffed.

She made a face and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her middle finger. "That's still pretty debatable."

Zarya had gone into the daytime of Sunday feeling more confident but much more tired. She really wanted to tell the boys about her breakthroughs but she wanted the entire project ready for them. She wanted to blow their minds in one fell swoop. As per usual that night, Dean watched her set up her laptop and put on her glasses as he closed the door behind him. He could only imagine what was keeping her so entertained and docile but he wished she would sleep. The dark circles were growing beneath her eyes.

Zarya stared at the search bar with apprehension that night. She knew what she had to type in, but something about the creature really refused to sit right with her. Vampire-human hybrids? She supposed at that point it really wasn't the craziest thing she heard; not after finding out how morois came to be. If they were vampires that could reproduce with one another, who was to say a human couldn't be strong enough to pop out a hybrid? There were nephilim, and Klaus Mikaelson was about to have a couple of _tri_ -brid babies. She puffed out her cheeks before releasing the air and forcefully typing in the word _dhampir_.

' _In Balkans folklore, a dhampir (sometimes spelled dhampyre, dhamphir, or dhampyr) is a creature that is the result of a union between a vampire and a human.'_

' _Moroi are benevolent vampires. Opposed to the Strigoi, they are alive, mortal and born. They are said to be very beautiful. Moroi's skin is described as being very pale and their bodies are slim and tall. Moroi are much taller and slimmer than humans. Standing next to their Dhampir guardians, they look very pale, very tall, but also less muscular.'_

' _Due to their slim bodies, female Moroi in general have smaller breasts and slimmer hips than their Dhampir cousins, who are usually more curvaceous. These traits attract the attention of Moroi males. Moroi females and males are described as possessing a supernatural beauty. They have a pair of fangs that do not retract, but in the movie adaption, this was changed.'_

' _Albanian legends state they have untamed dark or black hair and lack a shadow.'_

' _In mythology, dhampirs often rejected their vampire blood and became extremely successful vampire hunters due to their advanced abilities. However, despite their help to the human race, they were continually rejected nonetheless because of their vampire blood. Thus, dhampirs most always spent their life as nomads, rejected by both humans and vampires-vampires due to weakness, humans due to fear of the dhampirs' strength.'_

' _The offspring of a vampire and a human, a dhampir is generally portrayed as one with all or most powers of a vampire, with few to no disadvantages.'_

"What is it that bothers you so much?" Lucifer taunted from behind her that night. At first he was just sitting on her bed while she mumbled aloud, playing with her teddy bear. By the end he was right behind her, practically in her ear, with a monstrous smirk. Zarya's face was horrified before she even realized Lucifer was behind her. Each word stuck to her painfully without any known reason.

"The Albanians might have been onto something," he continued. "Untamed dark or black hair… Must have ran into a handful in their lifetime." He shrugged and walked around the table slowly. "It's astonishing though - monsters hunting monsters. Dhampirs can reject their vampire nature for as long as they want, killing the monsters that created them, but can they ever truly outrun their own nature?"

No, that knowledge had no reason to make Zarya as uncomfortable as she was. Her parents were human. Her mind started to race; she bit the inside of her cheek. Lucifer sat slowly across from her, his lips still tugged into the villainous smirk as he leaned across the table. An idea spawned suddenly and Zarya hastily opened a new tab on the screen and typed. _Nikolas Maxwell._

"What are you hoping to find out about daddy?" The archangel practically laughed at her.

"This," she breathed when she found just the right page.

 ** _NIKOLAS MAXWELL  
_ _APRIL 23, 1964  
_ _FIRST BORN  
_ _MYSTIC FALLS, VIRGINIA_**

 ** _PETER MAXWELL  
_ _JULY 12, 1977  
_ _SECOND BORN  
_ _MYSTIC FALLS, VIRGINIA_**

"My father had a brother, and they were both from Mystic freakin' Falls." She typed furiously again, her eyes darting about the screen like a mad woman. "My dad went off to Whitmore College in McKinley, Virginia where he met my mom who dipped on her family all the way from-" Her eyes widened as they rose to look at the archangel across from her.

"Detroit, right?" He leaned his chin on his hand, still smirking. "Quite the city. You've been sometime in your life, right, Rya?"

Nope, she was going to blatantly ignore that. She was not about to allow some hallucination to make her think that when Lucifer found her for the first time five years ago he brought her to her mom's childhood home in Detroit. _But it makes so much fucking sense,_ she thought painfully. _Just focus on the task at hand, Zarya. Dhampirs and Whitmore._

She pulled up the college records of Siya Clarke and Nikolas Maxwell, sitting back in her chair with a hand over her mouth as she stared at their school photos. Siya had soft features like in the Polaroid with Mary that were beginning to sharpen. The front sides of her dark hair were curled and mascara accented her emerald eyes perfectly. Nikolas Maxwell has messy brown hair tamed backwards out of his face so his bright blue eyes shined brightly. As her eyes looked between the old photos of her parents side by side she realized something quite odd.

"How rare is it that a child looks _exactly_ like one half of each of her parents?" Lucifer was in her ear again. That time his icy hands were on her shoulders sending a chill down to her spine to make her question reality again. "How come every other Vasile you've met has either emerald or black eyes? Why are you so stuck in the middle? Just kind of… _half and half._ "

Zarya's lips twitched slightly and she yanked her shoulders out of his grip to type once more. That time she went for Siya and her family. It took her a hot minute of Lucifer telling her she wasn't going to find anything when at last she got a hit: _Audra Clarke._ She hoped proving Lucifer wrong would shut him up or drop his ego a notch, but as she dug deeper into Audra the archangel seemed to grow more confident.

"Born November 8, 1947…" the ravenette muttered as she read. "Baton Rouge, Louisiana… What's this?"

"A tragic murder in 1958," Lucifer smirked as he leaned against a wall behind her.

As each word of the article from 1958 damned herself further, Zarya sat back and sunk into her chair. Audra was barely 11 years old when someone managed to pick the lock on their front door and murder her parents. Her mother, Lena, was snatched right out of bed. Her father, Daniel, grabbed his bedside gun and got a few shots off before he was murdered too. Lena and Daniel were found in a pool of their own bloods, dropped lazily on top of one another. There were no bullets that Daniel shot found at the scene, no footprints, and no weapon. Instead, _their throats were shredded open._ The journalist wrote, ' _If it hadn't been in the comfort of their own home, it would have been assumed to be a mountain lion or bobcat. Maybe even a 'gator.'_

Audra had been found locked in her bedroom with a machete. She told the police and every single reporter that it had been a woman to kill her parents with her teeth. She even had an answer for why she was left alive then. " _My dad had one request on his deathbed,"_ the journalist quoted, " _to leave me alive. She humored my dad because she knew I would have to live with the horrible memory for the rest of my life. And she is right; not a day or night goes by that I do not see my parents dumped on one another on the floor. All because she was something my dad wasn't prepared for for once."_

"Fuck me," Zarya muttered. Daniel Clarke had been a hunter and that was the deciding circumstance that turned Audra into one. Audra knew it was a vampire they had never seen before murder her parents. It wasn't a strigoi; it had to have been someone off of the Originals' line. Just knowing it was a woman certainly wasn't enough information though.

"Who on Earth would have murdered a man and woman in their beds though?" came Lucifer behind her. "Who would have had any sort of reason to murder Lena Vasile and Daniel Clarke, but leave little Audra alive to a life of misery? Who could be so _emotionless_ to do such a thing?"

If Katherine Pierce was massacring Vasiles, she wouldn't have left Audra alive. She had attempted to kill Siya _and_ Zarya in one singular car accident. The woman didn't know Lena or Audra were Vasiles; she didn't care. _She didn't care._

"Nova," she breathed with absolute horror.

"That's right, Rya. You know why? It sends a message. She damned your grandmother to a life of misery so bad that she became a hunter and raised herself a hunter family. What the hell could have driven Nova so mad to just kill them though?"

Zaeya grit her teeth and went back some more. Who were Lena's parents? It took a lot of backtracking, but finally she found names: _Eliza Vasile-Dumont and Alexander Dumont_. Lena also had one brother, Oliver Dumont. Alexander was originally born in France to a French man and half-Greek woman. She only realized Lucifer had returned to sitting in front of her when his hand came around her screen to point at the Dumont name and tap on it on the screen. She hesitated before searching the specific family as best as she could. Much like everything else it took some hefty digging, but it was only 2am so she had time. What she found caused her to nearly shut her laptop and end her search entirely. As it turned out, the Dumont family Alexander hailed from was a clan of lower tier _moroi_.

"That's not possible!" She all but shouted. "That would have made Lena a dhampir! It would have been more known!"

"Not necessarily," taunted Lucifer as he put his feet up on the table. "Alexander Dumont was a descendant of a low level moroi clan. Most of the moroi abilities were probably watered down, leaving the dhampir gene dormant in each child born of his blood. Granted, if you wanted to go back a little further…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You know what, no; you're just driving me in circles because you don't exist. Leave me the hell alone."

"You let me in, Rya," he reminded her. "It hasn't been the first time, and it certainly will not be the last. So come on, humor me; I'm getting bored. I could sing again if you prefer. Maybe this time you'll actually sing with me."

"Alright, fine! Dick." She rolled her eyes and typed. "Eliza Vasile-Dumont, born to Natalia Vasile and some guy no one wants to name because she took Eliza and vanished to America." Her eyebrows rose as she read.

"Sounds a little melodramatic, hm?"

"Natalia had a sister, Clara. Clara…"

"Another case of those damned twins. Wonder what happened to Clara."

Zarya clicked, scrolled, and read through several articles and journals and pages until she found each of the correct pieces to put together. "Natalia and Clara hated each other," she spoke barely above a whisper. "Clara was an outsider in her own family. There's a few things here though that just don't make sense; they're not in order."

"Natalia was to be married to a wealthy man," Lucifer read over her shoulder, "Clara met her fate in the river near their home, Natalia got pregnant with Eliza, and ditched her betrothed to America. Put it in order then. Make sense of it."

Before she did just that, she wanted to look up one more thing. When she found what she needed everything came together. "Clara was a dhampir," she confirmed. "Their mother was a Vasile who got married off to a moroi man. Natalia resented moroi and dhampirs alike so she was pissed when her parents signed her up to marry a moroi man too. If Eliza wasn't a dhampir or anything then… then Natalia got pregnant by a human man."

"And Clara knew too much for her own good."

"So Natalia drowned her sister, not knowing how the hell to kill a dhampir, and fled to America before she was married to the moroi." She sat back in her chair and ran her hands through her hair. Her heart rate was increasing with each new find.

"There were already moroi and dhampirs muddled throughout the Vasile line. Where else do you think the dhampir gene has landed?"

"Good God," she breathed when she realized. "Zina… she was… she was raped by a moroi that burned her arms…"

"And her little girl was named and sent into the Bulgarian orphanage system of the 1860s, which was actually quite awful. Wonder what ever happened to the little dhampir…"

As much as Zarya wanted to type in Katia Vasile, she decided against it. She had her fill of her blood family's skeletons in the closet. She needed more information about dhampirs. Closing everything she had up about the Vasiles Zarya returned to her dhampir research. First and foremost: how dhampirs come to be. The most obvious was sexual relations between a moroi and a human, like in Zina's case. But what was Katia like as an infant? Was it obvious what she was or did it occur later in her life? Was it different for each dhampir? Did Clara go through something entirely different, or the exact same?

' _Dhampirs are born mortal. Their eyes might shine a little brighter, they might be hungrier more frequently, but they are born mortal by the human parent's genetics. True dhampirs, those born of full blooded moroi, are stronger with quicker access to their vampire genetics. Depending on the moroi parent, the vampire genetics could possibly overwhelm the dhampir and be more prominent, or dormant and hidden about in the dhampir's genetic code. While it is a rare occurrence, it is still a gene that creates the dhampir and therefore can be recessive and passed down until it is strong enough to awaken.'_

While Lucifer began to laugh, Zarya resisted the urge to slam her laptop shut. It was merely a speculation. Literally a rumor on the internet. How often could it really have been that the dhampir gene remained recessive and passed person to person like a holiday fruit cake? Siya and Nikolas were human. Audra and Ramsey were human. Lena and Daniel were human. Alexander Dumont could not have had the gene to pass down if he was such a low level! _Could he have…?_

 _Dormant or recessive dhampir gene,_ she typed into the search bar that time. More weeding through fake articles when a Men of Letters file she had downloaded once with an entire case full of others popped up.

" _Our affiliates at Augustine House have sent crucial information. The existence of the dhampir is no longer a myth. It took some… persuading, but supposedly the creature goes by the name Clara Vasile."_

"Ooh, that's a bit of a plot twist," Lucifer commented as he read over her shoulder. "Researching that Augustine is going to have to be another night the way you're into this dhampir stuff. Don't worry, I won't let you forget." He smirked and pat her back.

" _Dr. Whitmore has been extremely helpful and successful in discovering the truth behind the dhampir just as he continues to find new information about full blooded vampires."_

"I don't think we need to do much research about Augustine…" Zarya realized grimly. Dr. Whitmore? It had to be through that Whitmore College.

" _Miss Clara took some time before she submit and willingly gave Dr. Whitmore the information he needed. What creates dhampirs is one gene that is formed by both parents: one half from the vampire, one half from the human. It molds together and when it is strong enough the gene creates a dhampir. When it is not, it travels with other basic reproductive genes into the next offspring until one is strong enough to bear the gene of the dhampir. Dr. Whitmore has witnessed the gene inside of Miss Clara's blood. Upon testing it, the gene has consumed most of Miss Clara's platelet count. A portion still remains; the portion that keeps her human yet. Tests of destruction prove unuseful as the gene replicates and regrows with speed even greater than a regular vampire. Only Dr. Whitmore's latest vampire subject exhibits remotely similar attributes."_

Where one answer came arose a thousand new questions in Zarya's mind. If the dhampir gene is always dormant, how does one access it then? Does it just happen or is it triggered? Who was Dr. Whitmore's 'latest vampire subject' that had 'remotely similar attributes' to dhampir Clara? _Think, Z, think!_ Dhampirs heal and regenerate 'greater than a regular vampire'. That was essentially the Vasile line in total, though she figured dhampirs were even speedier than that. Her head tilted to the side when the connection was made.

"Someone branched off of the Vasile blood," spoke Lucifer. "Someone just as close but not born of the bloodline or else it would have been more obvious. Perhaps… someone turned with Vasile blood."

Her eyes were wide with the hundredth realization that night. While it hadn't been her vampire blood to turn him, it was her _human_ blood to finish the transition. "Nova's love," she could barely speak anymore. "Damon Salvatore… he was an Augustine vampire. A test subject…"

"You think it just might overlap with Nova murdering Lena Vasile in her bed?"

"I think every bit of this messed up family comes full circle and that's even more frightening."


	21. Only Surrender Will Help You Now

21: Only Surrender Will Help You Now.

"What is this?" Sam questioned on Tuesday morning as he stared at a newspaper. Dean had woken him early and dragged him practically cross country to a diner in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. By time they arrived it was just after noon with Dean's driving. "Um, cattle deaths a few towns over? A demon possibility or something?"

"No, it says right there. It's probably just 'cause of the drought."

Sam partially cut his eyes at his brother as he set down the paper. "So what are we doing here?"

"Uh, reason's right here." He pointed to his plate with his fork where a large slice of apple pie sat. It even had the whole works - caramel sauce, whipped cream, a few nuts, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. His phone chimed which he answered quickly before continuing. "It's the only place between the East Coast and the bunker you can get this fat of a piece of pie made fresh every damn morning for under five bucks a slice."

Something still didn't settle right with the younger brother, especially when Dean's phone chimed _again_. He let that slide once more until it went off yet again. "Alright; dude, you are blowing up. Who is that?"

Dean's eyes looked up slowly from his screen. "Ah, it's just, uh, you know, these alert thingies…" He so clearly lied.

"Oh yeah? For what?" Another ping and he quirked a brow.

"You know, monster… stuff." The older brother half shrugged and began typing away when Sam's hand quickly reached over and snatched up the device. "Hey, hey! Unh-unh. No. Give it back!"

Sam grinned and held the phone to his chest, leaning back in his seat. "Yeah? What for?"

"Because privacy… and stuff. Gimme the phone, Sammy!"

He rolled his eyes playfully and glanced down at the screen, his eyes widening with humor at what he read. He started to laugh lightheartedly when he saw Zarya's name and picture up in Dean's messages. "Oh yeah, 'privacy'. So what if you're texting-" His eyes widened a little at one message as he scrolled through them before shooting a look back to his brother. "Cheesecake?" He exclaimed. "We're here for freaking _cheesecake_?" He was almost about to burst out laughing.

"Shut your damn pie hole and give me the phone back before you see something you might not like, Sammy."

"Yeah, okay," he scoffed. "I think honestly if I started seeing you and Zarya sexting I'd laugh more than throw up. Oh-oh no! It's even better than that!" He did start to laugh before mocking some messages he was reading. "' _You don't even know pie until you've been to Wellsboro Diner in Pennsylvania.'_ Ooh, that had to hurt your pie pride a little, right? Dean Winchester not know his pie," he laughed.

Dean's face had taken on a dramatic frown like a petulant child. "Alright, you've had your fun. Give me the damn phone."

"All you're doing is making me want to read more you know. Like this one for example! ' _How about if I took a little road trip and grabbed you a fat piece of that cheesecake? I promise I won't come back with regular cake like Sammy does every time.'_ You know I do that on purpose, right? Your reaction is priceless every single time."

Dean reached out quickly for his phone back across the table. As his hand wrapped around it and it started slipping out of Sam's, the device chimed again. Before the exchange was made Sam had just enough time to see the new message pop up. Zarya had actually sent a picture and for the quickest second Sam panicked and let the phone go back to his brother. Dean realized that had been the reason when he saw the image come up and finally it was his turn to laugh. "Chill out, Sammy; look." He turned the phone and showed his brother that all the ravenette had sent him was a photo of herself flipping him the bird and smiling.

"What's she flipping you off for this time?"

"Out of all that you read you didn't even read the last five minutes of the conversation?" Sam made a face and flipped him off like Zarya had in the picture. "I told her to put packing tape at the bottom of your bedroom doorway so you'll fall on your face when you walk in." He snickered when his brother half scowled. "She retaliated by saying she was in my room instead. I told her not to screw anything up and she sent me this because she's wearing one of my Metallica shirts and sitting on my bed."

Sam chuckled a little as Dean typed a reply to her. _I hope she farts on your pillow,_ he thought humorously recalling each time Dean had done it to him. "At least she seems to be feeling better. Had she slept at all after the weekend?"

He shrugged. "I checked on her yesterday morning and she seemed to be asleep with her pillow over her head. She was up not three hours after that so I have no idea how much she's not running on. How's her side healing?"

Sam didn't miss the way his brother stabbed into one of the last few bites of his pie with a little extra anger. Dean and Zarya both blatantly avoided so much as looking at the gruesome shredding of her side so Sam kindly made sure a couple of times each day the wound was cleaned and taken care of. "Pretty well, actually. She's mostly still bruised from the lack of food and extreme blood loss, but the stitches are just about healed and scabbed over. Honestly, if she felt up to it, she could probably come with us on a hunt in the next week or two."

Dean smiled lightly, but not light enough where it went unnoticed by his brother. "She's always been a speedy healer, ain't she? Thank God, I'll tell ya. We're gonna give that son of a bitch hell for what he did."

"Thank goodness; those psychopaths need to be stopped."

Both brothers' eyes widened at the female's voice who had snuck in and joined them. Their hands reached for their guns holstered on their sides, yet both of them froze still when they laid eyes on the girl. She had grabbed a nearby chair and placed it at their table sitting with her back straight and legs crossed. What was so damning, though, was her raven hair and eyes that were as a dark as the night but gleamed a beautiful hazel brown when looked at just right.

"Hello, boys," she smiled politely at each of them. "I figured now was an appropriate time we met. My name is Katia Markov-Vasile."

* * *

"You think doing this to spite me will work?" Lucifer laughed mockingly. "You're just going to prove how crazy you really are, Rya."

Music blared and filled the hallways of the bunker as far as it could reach. In the epicenter of it all, Zarya stood and danced on the table in the main hall with a bottle of whiskey in her hand. She wore the mid-thigh length spandex shorts she generally wore under her FBI pencil skirts, and one of Dean's flannel shirts with the long sleeves rolled up to her elbows over the Metallica tee. "Can't hear you over the sound of my bomb ass music, dick!" She yelled back at the archangel. The previous song ended, a new one following right after. She danced, swinging her hair and hips around, that time singing along because it couldn't have been a more perfect song to retaliate against Lucifer with.

" _Hello, hello, baby, you called?  
_ _I can't hear a thing  
_ _I have got no service  
_ _In the club, you say, say?  
_ _Wha-wha-what did you say, huh?  
_ _You're breakin' up on me  
_ _Sorry I cannot hear you  
_ _I'm kinda busy  
_ _Kinda busy  
_ _Kinda busy  
_ _Sorry I cannot hear you I'm kinda busy_!" She grinned and flipped off her hallucination before spinning around and dancing more. He stared up at her with an amused smirk.

" _Just a second  
_ _It's my favorite song they're gonna play  
_ _And I cannot text you with a drink in my hand, eh?  
_ _You should've made some plans with me  
_ _You knew that I was free  
_ _And now you won't stop calling me  
_ _I'm kinda busy  
_ _Stop callin'!  
_ _Stop callin'!  
_ _I don't wanna think anymore  
_ _I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor  
_ _Stop callin'!  
_ _Stop callin'!  
_ _I don't wanna talk anymore  
_ _I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor  
_ _Can call all you want but there's no one home  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone  
_ _Out in the club  
_ _And I'm sipping that bubb  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone  
_ _Call all you want, but there's no one home  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone  
_ _Out in the club  
_ _And I'm sipping that bubb  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone!  
_

 _Boy, the way you blowing up my phone  
_ _Won't make me leave no faster  
_ _Put my coat on faster  
_ _Leave my girls no faster  
_ _I should've left my phone at home  
_ _'Cause this is a disaster  
_ _Calling like a collector  
_ _Sorry, I cannot answer!_

 _Not that I don't like you  
_ _I'm just at a party  
_ _And I am sick and tired of my phone r-ringing  
_ _Sometimes I feel like I live in Grand Central Station  
_ _Tonight I'm not takin' no calls  
_ _'Cause I'll be dancin'  
_ _I'll be dancin'  
_ _I'll be dancin'  
_ _Tonight I'm not takin' no calls  
_ _'Cause I'll be dancin'!  
_ _Stop callin'  
_ _Stop callin'  
_ _I don't wanna think anymore  
_ _I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor  
_ _Stop callin'  
_ _Stop callin'  
_ _I don't wanna talk anymore  
_ _I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor  
_ _Can call all you want but there's no one home  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone  
_ _'Cause I'm out in the club  
_ _And I'm sipping that bubb  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone!  
_ _Call all you want, but there's no one home  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone  
_ _'Cause I'm out in the club  
_ _And I'm sipping that bubb  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone!  
_ _My telephone  
_ _My, my, my telephone  
_ _'Cause I'm out in the club  
_ _And I'm sipping that bubb  
_ _And you're not gonna reach my telephone!_ "

Lucifer clapped slowly, though it did not sway her in the least. Another song came on and she continued on as if he really wasn't there. "Quite astonishing how you Vasile women all have some kind of musical talent!" He called to her. "Just another thing you get from Remmy!"

Zarya started to laugh and squatted down on the table with her elbows on her thighs. She took a large swig from the bottle first before answering Lucifer. "Well," she gave a small hiccup, "I know it's certainly not you. You're borderline tone deaf!" The look on his face was priceless. "Hey," she stood and took another swig, "maybe it's your vessel 'cause Nicky couldn't sing either. God knows he would try." She laughed a little. "Oh wait, you're not even actually using my best friend's body anymore! You must be tone deaf too then."

Somewhere far off and well protected, Remiel couldn't help but laugh. It had broken her concentration which gave Zarya a few moments of peace to drink and dance. "She is right though," the young archangel spoke from behind her hand. "You _are_ tone deaf."

Lucifer was already scowling the moment Remiel broke focus. "And you have the attention span of a child. Get a grip, Remmy. We're finally making progress."

She scoffed. "You call this progress?" She gestured to the translucent orb between the two of them that showed them Zarya in the bunker. "She is drunk and dancing on a table to mock you. She's even wearing more of Dean's shirts. Great job in keeping her away from him, Lux."

"Enough," he scolded her. "It's your fault we're on a deadline. Do you even have a backup plan if Runa explodes ahead of schedule with all this grace and magic you've been using?"

Something playful danced in her dark eyes. While she took her time to respond she noticed her dear brother's eyes darting back frequently to watch Zarya dance up and down the long table in her shorts. She crossed her arms over her chest with an unreadable expression. "Actually, I do. I am always ten steps ahead of _everyone_ , brother. Don't tell me you've grown some sort of affection for little Zarya. If you like her face so much then work harder in getting her to say 'yes' to me."

Lucifer eyed his sister carefully yet dangerously. Ten steps ahead of everyone, hm? Was he included in that as well? Perhaps Zarya Vasile's boisterous but warm personality had grown on him. Could he really drown that out with whatever it was Remiel was truly planning? As time went on he was beginning to wonder what her _true_ intent really was because everything that came out of her mouth just didn't sound right. He glanced back to their projection of Zarya and the way she danced. He was no longer using Nick Rowell for a vessel, at least not while he was half walking the Earth. Auriel had a connection to Zarya, but nothing remotely similar to Nick. Had it been all the time Nick was his vessel, or had it become more than that thanks to his time with Zarya herself?

Remiel's scoff dragged him from his thoughts that were barely any different than the ones she had been having. "You look as if you're having doubts, _khuba._ "

His eyes cut to her. "If you have ten backup plans, why are we still terrorizing Zarya? She has enough free will where she's never going to say 'yes' to either of us. And quite frankly," his tone dropped to a low hiss, "maybe the world is better with Zarya Vasile herself in it."

Remiel was appalled at Lucifer. Her jaw set tightly. "Zarya Maxine Clarke Vasile _is_ my vessel. She is _mine_. Her existence is nothing but a fluke to ensure my survival. She could have been born an empty vessel and it would have made my life much easier. We have much to do now get with the picture, _Lucifer_!" She grabbed his hands, forcing Auriel's magic forward, and forced a vivid hallucination upon Zarya's mind.

"Remiel, that's enough!" He argued as he tried to pull his hands back. Her grip was strangely too tight and seeming to suck the life right out of him. "You could kill her! Stop it!"

Her eyes had ignited a bright amethyst with fury. "I will never stop, Lux. Just one thought, dear brother. One thought to be a whole existence's work."

Zarya finished a spin when the room refused to stop spinning around her. She stumbled and dropped to her knees, the bottle slipping from her hand and shattering on the floor. She started to pant quickly, unable to catch her breath. It felt like a massive weight was on her entire abdomen. She blinked and was thrown into 1958 to the quaint Baton Rouge home of Lena and Daniel Clarke. Their blood splashed against the walls and Zarya's face. Their bodies dropped to the floor in a heap at her feet practically staring up at her. She looked up to the back of Nova's head as the vampire turned slowly. Blood dripped down her chin, her emerald eyes devoid of any emotion at all.

"Run, little girl," she hissed in a whisper before smiling and baring her fangs.

She turned and ran, her bare feet slipping in the blood as the pool grew and expanded towards her. She ran as fast as she could down the hall but yet the hall seemed to never end. The walls and doors began to change until it became Nick's upstairs hallway. She had heard him scream from downstairs as she tried to dial 911 and ran right upstairs. While Nick sobbed over the blood dripping crib, Zarya's eyes landed on Sarah's bashed in and still bleeding skull on the bed she shared with Nick. The phone slid from her hand and into the blood.

"What are we going to do, Rya?" Nick cried with his back still to her.

"I… I don't… I don't know…" She stuttered as her heart nearly pounded out of her chest. Her mouth was drying up and knees trembling.

Nick's grip on the wooden bars of the crib tightened until it cracked the wood and made Zarya jump. "There isn't anything else we _can_ do… that _I_ can do…"

"Wh-what are you talking about, Nick?" A bright light started to fill the room. She had to cover her eyes with one hand while feeling for the wall with the other. "Nick, stop! Please!" She cried. "Don't do it!" She couldn't find the wall or Nick and found herself slipping in the blood until she landed backwards. The light finally died down and Nick stood slowly. Tears were pouring down Zarya's face as she crawled backwards, covering herself in blood. "Nick…"

"Not anymore, _Rya_."

She let out a violent scream and scrambled to her feet through the pools of blood until she was up and out the door. Halfway down the stairs she slipped with her bloody feet and started to fall forward. As she fell, the scene changed again and sent her plummeting into frozen waters. She desperately tried to claw and swim her way up as she was losing air, but the further up she tried to go the lower down she sank. Zarya sank into the darkness until she jolted upright in a motel bed, wrapped in just a sheet.

"Stop it!" She screamed as she held the sheet against her bare chest. Bruises and bitemarks covered her pale skin.

"Not what you were saying all last night, Zare."

She turned with horror on her face to see Dean coming out of the bathroom. After he spoke, his eyes flashed black. She flew out of the bed, getting caught up in the sheet, and started to fall. As she fell towards the wood floor, she fell into another vision. One horrific bombardment after another. Each time she tried to escape one she fell violently into another. She let out a vehement scream that pierced through each dreadful vision no matter how many times they changed.

By a random act of chance, Castiel had decided to put what he was doing on hold to check on Zarya. As he walked through the bunker his phone went off with a message from Dean; he hadn't heard from Zarya in some time and hoped Cas could check and see if she was hopefully sleeping or losing her mind more. He called the ravenette's name as he walked until he heard a loud thud. He darted towards the sound and found Zarya seizing on the floor. The thud had been her falling off of the table. He raced over to her, laying her on her good side and tossing everything nearby away. Cas kept one hand on her side while he used the other to call Dean.

"She's seizing," Cas told him the second he answered before even saying 'hello'. "I don't know for how long or why but she's seizing right now. I laid her on her side but she won't stop."

Sam and Dean's eyes widened when they heard what the angel told them. Katia looked up from her book she was reading to help them with their case with a deathly serious look about her countenance. "Call another hunter to handle this. We need to get to Zarya."

"It's still at least a twelve hour drive back to the bunker," Sam spoke quickly. "We wouldn't make it in time!"

"I'm fast but I'm not that fast," the ravenette quipped. "You said she's being terrorized by hallucinations of Lucifer again? I doubt that is a coincidence."

Cas thought quickly and sent a message to the angel Hannah in distress. Moments later she appeared in the motel room with the Winchesters and Katia Vasile. The four of them were confused to say the least until Cas spoke. "Hannah, are you able to bring them here to Lebanon quickly?"

Hannah looked at the three with uncertainty. "I think I can do two, but not all three. I am sorry."

"That's fine," came Dean immediately. He waved over Katia who jumped to her feet. "Sammy, can you and Cas work on the case so Katia and I can help Zare?" As soon as Sam nodded, he tossed his brother the keys to the Impala. "Then you're taking us," he told Hannah. "Once we get there, Cas, I need you here with Sam. We've got a bad demon case out here."

Once all was agreed, Hannah teleported Dean and Katia to the bunker. The second their feet hit the floor Cas nodded and the two angels took off. Dean ran right to Zarya who was still seizing and brushed her hair out of her face. "Zare?" He called to her. "Zare, can you hear me?"

Katia knelt down and put her hands on the sides of Zarya's head, having to slide one underneath. She muttered some words Dean couldn't hear or understand and her eyes ignited a bright yet dark strawberry pink hue. After a quick moment she was violently and literally thrown away from Zarya, her back slamming against a wall. She let out a mild groan and shook her head before the panic set in.

"Dean, watch out!" She shouted to the older Winchester. "It's not just a hallucination!"

Zarya's eyes snapped open suddenly; one was amethyst, one was scarlet. She leapt to her feet, knocking Dean with a harsh fist in the jaw as she did. As he slid across the floor and put a hand to his jaw, Katia lunged for Zarya. She grabbed her human descendant from behind with her arms under Zarya's and hands hooking behind the girl's head. She tried desperately to restrain how much strength she was using but Zarya wasn't making it very easy. Without Katia applying full pressure, Zarya was able to let out a violent battle cry and flip the dhampir above and over her head, slamming her back first onto the table and nearly breaking it.

Katia leapt right off the table before Zarya could start slamming her fists down. "When the hell did she get this strong?!" Dean exclaimed.

"They're trying to force her dhampir gene active," Katia explained. "I was trying to have this conversation much more civilly and preferably with all of you but the reason Zarya was expected to be able to bear an archangel's child is because she's the one with the active dhampir gene in her blood."

Zarya came running at them like a beast. Katia stepped forward and kicked her as hard as she could in Zarya's sternum, sending her flying back. "Zare said something to us yesterday about finding out dark stuff about the Vasiles and even more vamp breeds; is that the breed of crazy she was talking about?"

"Yes! That's what I was trying to tell you two before you found out about the demon brothel and that Rowena chick. Long story short, dhampirs are the product of a breed of vampire called moroi and humans. My mother was brutally attacked by a moroi man and ended up pregnant with me. Zarya descends from years worth of moroi breeding to the point where most of the humans contracted and carried the dhampir gene. Siya had it and passed it to Zarya without activating it herself. She wouldn't have been capable of it."

"Alright let's say I'm on board with this level of insanity right now; how the hell would she 'activate' this dhampir gene or whatever?"

"Death," Katia replied simply as Zarya was storming back down the hall. "It's more efficient if you die with a dhampir's blood in your system but you'll go through the process nonetheless if your body can take it. When Siya had Zarya she passed the gene on so when she died there was no chance she would have come back."

"What if Zare's body can't take it though?"

"Trust me, Dean, it's meant to. As a dhampir I can smell it all over her. We can get into the details later but she's not hallucinating. She's being made to see everything she is and it's gotten to bad that they can get her to react in real time rather than just seizing anymore."

"They who?"

"Look at the damn eyes, you twit! Remiel and Lucifer have her by the scruff of her neck! They have to be making her see something that she would normally attack in real life."

As soon as Dean saw the machete in Zarya's hand he knew exactly what she was seeing. If Lucifer and Remiel wanted her to relive the most horrendous of times in her life and she was going ape shit trying to kill whatever was in her wake, there wasn't a doubt in his mind. "Purgatory," he spoke low.

"What?"

"Purgatory - she's reliving being in Purgatory with me. Move!" He tackled Katia out of the way as Zarya's machete went flying right at them.

"Purgatory is where monsters go when they die!" Katia argued as they crawled quickly beneath the table.

"No shit! Long story real short," he half mocked her, "we ended up in Purgatory. We had to survive everyday like it was our last killing anything in our path to find Cas and the rumored door the fuck out."

Katia groaned as they stood. "You two really do manage to get yourselves into the most ridiculous trouble." She shook her head as Zarya advanced on them again. "They've got too strong of a hold on her noggin; I can't get in there by myself, especially not while she's all hulked out. We've got to sedate her and restrain her somehow." She looked up to Dean's face and felt a small pang of guilt. "I am sorry, Dean. If I'm to help her at all-"

"I got it," he told her briskly before walking towards the raging ravenette.

"Are you mad?!" Katia shouted after him. "She has a _machete_ and is being puppeted by archangels making her see things!"

"Yeah," he looked over his shoulder at her for a second with a solemn half smile, "but I know my Zare better than anyone."

As soon as he turned back to Zarya, she came swinging down violently with the machete. Dean reacted quickly by grabbing her wrist. The action surprised her but she didn't falter yet. With her free hand she balled her fist and went in for a punch to his rib cage. He saw it coming and her fist collided instead with his hand. As a last ditch effort, Zarya went in for a kick which took her completely off balance. Dean was able to twist her around and knock the machete from her hand. He wrapped his arms as tightly as he could against her as she thrashed against him, leaning his chin as calmly as he could on her shoulder.

" _It's not real, Zare._ "

She froze up immediately, the warmth of Dean's body around her dragging her back slowly. The scarlet and amethyst wavered in her eyes, her green-blue hue flickering desperately. Everything real and fake began to crumble around her vision. Slowly but surely the scarlet vanished from her left eye, but the amethyst didn't waver in the slightest. In fact, the second the scarlet vanished, Zarya's head filled with excruciating pain. She let out a loud, painful scream and writhed from the pain against Dean's grip around her. Her eyes clamped shut and started to cry when the pain became too much to handle. Her head felt as if it was going to explode all over the walls. If she paid attention through the agony she could hear frantic whispering in a language she didn't recognize. At last when the pain subsided, Zarya's body began to go limp. As her knees gave out, her eyes shot open, both brightly amethyst.

Across the states, Sam was chasing down Rowena while Cas desperately tried to fend off a woman under the witch's mad dog spell. Sam was so close when suddenly it felt like all the air in his lungs were being constricted. He skidded to a halt and Rowena turned around calmly with a proud smirk on her red lips as Sam choked on his lack of air. "Wha-what a-are you doing t-to me?" He choked out as best as he could.

"If you can't play with fire, Lux," Remiel growled malevolently as she advanced on her brother, "then get out of my way or be burned."

"You're going to fry her brain, Remiel," Lucifer argued back rather sternly. "You'll kill her and you know what that will do, don't you? It took me a bit to figure everything out; nobody bothered to send memos to the Cage, you know. While Rya only began putting the pieces together, I found the missing chunks. You've haven't been working with Saskia at all. You burned her and now she's come for you yet you've still planned all of this from the start."

Anger was growing into a violent rage within the youngest archangel. Her beloved brother had used her full name but the human's pet name. "My survival will haunt our siblings, our _Father_ ," she spat the word, "through the remainder of the eons. None of you will ever destroy me!"

"Afraid it isn't me this time, Samuel," Rowena smirked. "Magnificent job, darling!" She started to clap lightly and he heard heels clicking towards him.

Sam tried to look over towards the new sound when it felt like more air was being taken from him, if it was even possible. The pressure on his lungs dragged his feet a few inches off the ground. His gun slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground when he finally laid eyes on the young woman holding her hand out and performing the magic.

Zarya had wrapped her hands around Dean's wrists and flipped him as hard as she could over her head to the floor. His eyes widened with panic when he saw hers glowing a bright amethyst. "Lucifer lost his hold on her!" He shouted to Katia as he rolled out of the way of Zarya's foot coming for his throat. "It's just Remiel now!"

Katia gasped. "She couldn't possibly be doing magic like this without the Moore witch Lucifer has control of! She's going to kill Zarya and make her turn!"

Lucifer used Riel's magic to send Remiel flying backwards into a brick wall, cracking it. She started to laugh and jumped down with ease. "Go ahead and fight me, brother," she taunted. "While you engage me, Zarya's mind might as well be melting while she fights off her precious Dean and her body reacts too quickly that it shuts down. What are you going to do, Lux?"

He put his hand out again, putting Remiel back on the wall and holding her there. "Don't you know I'll bring her back every time before the dhampir gene can kick in, _Remmy_?"

"I've heard you Winchesters are running about digging up tales of the Vasiles," the woman spoke with the hint of a Russian accent. "Your quest ends here." She retracted her hand and Sam dropped to the ground coughing and gasping for air.

She had started walking away with Rowena when Sam called to them. "Wait!" He coughed again. "Remiel already has a vessel!" The raven haired woman who choked him with magic stopped first which prompted Rowena to do the same.

"Who?" She hissed without turning around.

"Runa. She's got Runa again for a limited time. She's trying to force Zarya to say 'yes' to her before Runa burns out."

After a minute of silence, she finally turned back around and looked down at him. He gasped a little extra at the sight of her eyes that threw them off for they were the most piercing and extraordinary piercing blue he had ever seen. Her thick hair fell in loose, natural waves down the sides of her face and covering her back. She knelt down to Sam's level with a gravely serious look on her face.

"Then I hope you have yet prepared for war," she spoke quietly to his face. In that moment Sam could see her fangs, larger than a normal person's.

It took all of their combined effort, but after what felt like endless struggling Katia and Dean finally had Zarya contained and restrained in the basement. As bitter of a thought as it was, they knew it was very possible for her to smash through a chair and break free. They had no choice but to chain to her to the cement brick wall by her wrists and ankles. Dean couldn't look back at her as she thrashed and screamed in that language of the devil Crowley had mentioned once.

"It's alright," Katia assured him when they made it upstairs. "I might know a couple of someones who can help me fight past Remiel's mind control."


	22. Let's See How Long You Stay Pure

22: Let's See How Long You Stay Pure.

"Sam will be back in about five hours; he had a run-in with someone running with Rowena," Dean told Katia after he got off the phone. "She did some weird magic that sucked the air out of his lungs but she had fangs."

Katia had been sitting at the table for quite some time after making a call. She slammed her phone down onto the table and pinched the bridge of her nose. It had become dawn before Dean joined her. "What color were her eyes?"

"Some weird blue? What's it matter?"

The ravenette groaned audibly. "That would be Sofia Vasile. Not terribly surprising that she's teamed up with a witch rejected from the Grand Coven."

"Why do you say that?"

She made a face up at him. "It's… complicated. This whole family is a damn disaster all plotted out from Remiel eons ago."

"So who could you have possibly called to help Zare? Who's got enough juice and doesn't want her to be swallowed whole by archangels?"

In truth, Katia had spent the better portion of the night preparing herself mentally for who was coming. While the call aggravated her to no end, she had to be ready for when they showed up. She opened her mouth to attempt an explanation when her phone chimed. They had arrived. "Maybe it's best if I just show you… wait here." In a flash she zoomed up the stairs and out the door leaving Dean confused as all hell. When the door opened again, three sets of footfalls came behind Katia. The hunter couldn't believe his eyes.

Behind Katia came her mother, the supposed to be long time deceased Zina Vasile. After her Dean locked eyes with Damon Salvatore, both of them icy and guarded. Last, but not least, Nova walked slowly with her eyes grazing over every detail of the bunker. Dean's lips parted slightly when he noticed her hair had been cut up to her shoulders. The three vampires stood opposite of the hunter with Katia between them all. You could cut the tension in the air with a long enough finger nail.

"What the actual hell is this?" Dean started off slowly.

"The cavalry 's here," Nova taunted with a cynical smirk about her darkly painted lips.

"Ignore her mouth," Damon told Dean as he stepped in front of Nova. "She's off the drugs and angel blood but she's not quite all there yet."

"And he's under the delusion that she will be ever again." Zina shrugged.

"You're all horrendous," Katia barked at them. "I've kept tabs on every single Vasile since the moment I heard the name. I have put my life in danger constantly, even this very second, but you three are so focused on yourselves that you have failed to see the larger picture here! Lucifer and Remiel are playing us each individually but they tried to work together to get Zarya. It didn't work and now they might be at odds."

"So what are we doing here then?" Nova hissed from Damon's side.

Dean hesitated in answering but he knew they were just about out of options. "Remiel is trying to fry her brain and body until she dies and awakens the dhampir gene in her. If she succeeds, Zarya will be weak and desperate enough to want Remiel's help. Remiel gets her vessel and we're all screwed."

Nova's lips and nose twitched. "That coincides with your removal of our free will crap, _soră mai mică_."

"Because what I told you is true," Zina quipped back. "Where is Zarya? How bad is she?"

As Dean and Katia led them to the basement, Dean filled them in on the recent events. Damon noticed the way Nova's face changed when Dean mentioned Zarya being tortured by Lucifer. They learned about the horrible mutilation to the girl's side and the after effects including the hallucinations. They realized that it hadn't been hallucinations; the archangels were forcing the visions upon Zarya's mind. When Dean unlocked the door they gathered round by the doorway to see the extent of the damage. Zarya was on her knees, still chained to the wall, with her head down and hair covering her face. The moment she realized there were people there again she lunged forward to attack. The chains kept her held back, but for how long?

Zina's breath caught in her throat when she saw Zarya's amethyst glowing eyes. "Yeah, that is some pretty rooted damage…"

"I thought some combination of us could break through," Katia offered. "I have a fair grip on my psychic abilities, but not enough to push past Remiel herself trying to control her vessel's mind."

Nova pat Katia on the back lightly as she watched Zarya and listened to the language she spat out. "I like your style, kid." She strut up closer to Zarya, ignoring everyone's protests, and remained just out of her reach while bending to speak in her face. " _Ne'evak 'ana pro, Remiel._ " **(Fight me instead, Remiel.)**

Dean and Zarya's eyes widened at the language. While he couldn't understand a bit of what she spoke, Dean recognized it as the same 'Verbis Diablo' that came out of Zarya's mouth. Something about the room temperature seemed to be dropping slowly but noticeably as the two women began going back and forth shouting at each other in the frightening language.

Across the way, Remiel laughed in the midst of her fighting with Lucifer. "You may have hold over one sibling, Lux, but the other still walks in my domain."

 _Only for as long as it takes to change that ordeal,_ he thought as Remiel rose to her feet. "All I have to do is tip the scale in my favor, Remiel. I do that and you lose all control of the line _you_ started. Let Rya go now or Nova Vasile is mine."

"Nova Vasile is an iceberg that you will never be able to even chip." She replied arrogantly. "Nothing you offer could ever sway her. I have given her everything. Nova is _mine_."

"And Zarya is _mine_ , Remiel," he bellowed back. "When you started this you unknowingly divvied these creatures up between the two of us. It was supposed to be an even balance of power but you've taken it too far. If I can get one of them to step foot into _my_ domain, _my_ protection, _my_ grace, and under _my_ wings then you lose every damn thing you've worked so hard to accomplish."

"You are quite right, dear brother. But do you recall when I said I was ten steps ahead of everyone and had back up vessels planned already?"

Surprisingly enough, Lucifer's eyes widened with the realization and how dangerous is truly was. "Nova…"

Damon and Dean held Zarya firmly against the wall. Zina put one hand to the girl's left temple, Nova's hand on her right, and Katia between the twins linking their hands together. Once the connection was made, it linked the four of them. Zina's eyes glowed red, Nova's violet, and Katia's deep pink. The amethyst in Zarya's eyes tried to waver into magenta but it seemed almost impossible. The three Romanian blooded vampires forced their psychic will upon Zarya's mind and Remiel's tirade inside of it. They each clawed and kicked and punched their way through until they were just that: through.

Each of the three found themselves in a different portion of Zarya's mind. Zina was surrounded by the overlapping memories or Zarya's real life versus her compelled one. Katia stood in a dark, barely lit hallway with a handful of odd doors, each one different than the last, lining both sides of the hall. At one point she came to a door with what she easily recognized as Lucifer's sigil burned onto it. Across from it was a different door with initials hand engraved in from a knife: D.W. Nova, however, found herself right in the snake pit.

"Nova Lerae Vasile," purred a dangerous voice in the darkness. "What a powerful woman you have become."

"Let me guess," Nova drawled boredly, "Remiel, right? I'm actually quite unamused by this entire ordeal. Just drop Zarya so I can go home."

"To Mystic Falls? You call that swamp your home? You could have had the entire country of Romania if not all of Europe if you tried hard enough."

"Not interested, actually. Surely you know how much I loathed my parents, since you seem to be an insufferable know-it-all." Remiel stormed out from the shadows and lunged to grab Nova by the throat but the vampire grabbed her wrist before she could make contact. "I don't understand your infatuation with Zarya. You can forcibly turn her into a dhampir or whatever if it's what you would like to do, but it's only going to make her despise you more because she doesn't want it."

"You think you've got yourself in such good graces because you allow the girl to have a choice? Choices were not something my Father actually gave any creature He created. I gave the lot of you existence! Together we will overthrow each of those who have forced us into submission and shadows."

"Sounds relatively enticing but," she snapped the archangel's hand back, cracking her wrist bones loudly, "that's something I intend on doing myself. I lived a long time without angel business in my life and I'd quite like to keep it that way."

"Says the one obsessed with power so deeply she would drink straight from the Lazarus well herself."

Nova scoffed and her maroon lips curved into a smirk. "I made a mistake when I _drank_ all of that angel blood; didn't sit quite right with me. I have no qualms in merely _spilling_ angel blood. I'll kill them all before you even get a chance because I _so_ fucking sick and tired of the lot of _you_."

"You have no idea of the domino effect that would cause."

"You confuse me for someone with remorse. Keep coming after what is mine and I will _shred you._ "

Before Remiel could say anything else or attempt to strike Nova, the vampire brought her long leg up and kicked the archangel in her vessel's ribs. Whether it actually affected Remiel wherever she was or not Nova didn't particularly care. One way or another she was blowing off some steam on one of the angels trying to puppet her life. Remiel let Nova get in a few hits, making the vampire believe she was weak even if it was just in the psychic plane. Once Remiel saw the opening she knew Nova would leave her she leaped up, her eyes gleaming bright amethyst, and grabbed Nova with both hands by the head. Nova tried to shove her off but the archangel kept a firm grip while shouting in what sounded like Enochian.

Pain surged through Nova's skull. She let out a cry and started to claw at Remiel's arms to no avail. It felt as if the archangel's nails were digging into her head slowly. The Enochian turned into Verbis Diablo and Nova's eyes ignited violet. Nova tried shouting back in the Verbis Diablo but Remiel was louder and much stronger than she was.

Zina had ran about every which way to escape Zarya's memories. After so many they almost started to confuse and hurt her head. She could only imagine what Zarya must have felt. She ran until she came to a dark hallway with various looking doors on each side. A few of them Zina tried but they wouldn't budge. The further down she went she found the silhouette of someone. They were reaching for one of the doors' knobs.

"Katia!" she called when her eyes made out the figure. The young dhampir jumped and retracted her hand as Zina approached. Her eyes widened slightly when she recognized the sigil burned into the wood. "What are you thinking, Katia? I would not imagine you don't know what that symbol means."

"I know very well _who's name_ that sigil spells out," Katia quipped back sharply. "What if opening that door would give us some kind of advantage over Remiel?"

"If you open that door here it's almost a guarantee you will open it to yourself. You have to tread carefully in the psychic plane, Katia."

"Are you afraid for Zarya, myself, or you?"

Remiel stomped her foot down on Lucifer's throat. "Good to see that I can still toss you around a room _and_ be channeling at the same time," she smirked. "It will not be long now before I wedge myself nicely into Nova's mind. I just need a little door that I can leave cracked open to walk in and out of anytime I please."

Zina had put her hand on top of Katia's and they turned the knob together. They were blinded by a bright light that nearly deterred them at first, but once they stepped in further they could see clearly. For a split second Zina's eyes glowed her deep red hue and Katia's their dark blue. It was a blank room filled with nothingness except the archangel on the floor. Neither ravenette hesitated in running forward.

"Are you seriously getting your ass kicked by your little sister right now?" Zina chastised as they grabbed each of Lucifer's arms and started pulling him up to his feet.

"Do not underestimate Remiel like the rest of us have," he told them grimly. "Get out of here before she ruins what's left of Rya's mind."

"She'll die if that happens and you know it," Katia barked. "I get that you don't do the whole teamwork ordeal but it is kind of all hands on deck right now."

He scoffed. "You're wasting your time, all of you. They thought I had everything thought out and gone mad from eons in Hell? That was nothing compared to what Remiel has become."

"Do something she wouldn't anticipate then!" Any other day Zina would have seriously decided against scolding the devil but she was willing to take her chances then. "Her fighting you is a distraction until it's too late."

His eyes widened with realization just then. Generally he would handle such abrasive attitudes by killing the mouths it came from, but they proved useful. At last they were able to stand and he put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Go find Nova before Remiel can overpower her too."

"What are you up to?" Katia questioned.

Lucifer smirked. "A little surprise for my baby sister."

When his hand shot out and gripped Remiel's ankle so tightly the bones nearly shattered, the younger archangel felt a bolt of panic strike her. Lucifer's eyes opened a bright scarlet and he flung Remiel off of him. Once he was back on his feet he brushed off some of the dirt. Remiel snarled as she got to her feet, glaring at him mercilessly. What deeply infuriated her, though, was when Lucifer looked her in the eye and smirked with more arrogance than she had rage.

"Not today, Remmy," he told her as he held his arms out at his sides. "And not ever."

She lunged for him when she realized what he was doing but it had been too late. A bright light and violent, piercing, ringing brought her to her knees and incapacitated her momentarily. As it all ended there was a light thud. Remiel let out an enraged scream when the body of Auriel Cressida laid unconscious on the ground. Lucifer had given her up and returned entirely to the Cage. She had to work harder on Nova then.

"Not my sister, feather brains; that's my job!" Zina shouted when they found Remiel and Nova.

Katia and Zina ran forward for Remiel and tackled her off of Nova. The oldest Romanian vampire stumbled back and to the ground. Everything was spinning and her head was _pounding_. For a moment her eyes flashed _magenta_ before she fell onto the ground, her head doing a light bounce. While the mother and daughter got tossed around by a slowly weakening Remiel, blood started to drip from Nova's nose and ears. Outside in the real world the same had begun to Zarya's body. Remiel had Zina and Katia held off their feet by their throats. Nova's eyes kept flashing between violet and magenta as the blood flowing grew heavier. Zarya's amethyst eyes outside were fading into a light pink shade. Dean was growing concerned about the blood. Damon knew they had to continue, but the fear struck him when he noticed the same thing was happening to Nova's body as well.

As Nova's eyes fluttered closed _everything_ went dark. Remiel let out another cry upon realizing how her plan had gone so wrong. Everything around began to crumble and quake. Zarya was dying. Zina, Katia, and Nova were thrust away from Zarya in the bunker basement suddenly, all three of them smashing against walls and crashing to the floor. Dean and Damon exchanged frantic looks before slowly releasing Zarya. She fell to her knees, held up partially and limply by the chains that kept her shackled. Dean moved quickly to unlock them but Damon decided the snap the chains instead because it was much quicker.

"Zare!" Dean shouted frantically as he held her limp form in his lap. "Zare can you hear me? She's not breathing!"

Damon had gone to check on the three women but turned his head to look over at the hunter. "Nova isn't either but Zina and Katia are just unconscious. If I give Zarya my blood to heal whatever happened it might be too late and it could turn her."

Dean looked down at Zarya with fear and uncertainty in his eyes. What the hell was he supposed to do? What had Remiel and Lucifer done to them?

* * *

Zarya's eyes opened slowly finding darkness and thunder looming above her. Part of her wanted to freak out and be afraid, but what could she really do about it? What was it though that dragged her to Hell again? If Remiel had succeeded in killing her, shouldn't she be on the Other Side with the rest of the Vasiles? _With her mom at least…?_

"Up and at em, kiddo; we don't have a whole lot of time."

Her head lolled towards the voice. It sounded so solemn and grave. She couldn't say she was terribly surprised to be laying beside Lucifer's Cage but it wasn't exactly comforting. Her head returned to its original spot with her hair fanned out beneath her. The green-blue eyes that once held fire and passion lacked even the will to live anymore.

"The least you two can do is let me die and stay dead."

Deep down that did actually relatively hurt the archangel. "You won't die anyways which is exactly what Remiel wanted. Get up so I can send you back before you become exactly what she wants you to be." When she didn't budge his knuckles turned white gripping the bars. "Please, Zarya."

That seemed to ignite a light in her eyes; a spark. "She wants me to be a dhampir…"

"Yes, she does! Which is exactly why I need you to get the hell up and go back to living properly, preferably avoiding these hits on your life. Didn't we go over how people are going to want to kill you? The window is closing, Zarya."

Her eye twitched a little. At last she sat up. The spark was beginning to grow in her eyes. "You don't want me to be a dhampir…" She muttered. "You never have or you would have let me die at every chance you've had… But you've always threatened to bring me back instead…"

"You don't want to be a dhampir, Zarya. I'm not a fucking idiot. That is not a burden you deserve to bear. Especially not when it was my power crazy sister who damned you to those odds."

Zarya leapt to her feet suddenly as the fire grew in her more green than blue eyes. Slowly she approached the Cage, staring up at Lucifer with a strangely unreadable expression past the fire in her eyes. That was what it was, the biggest difference that truly separated Zarya from Remiel - the fire and passion that lit her path to survival. Remiel always knew she was great and mighty but Zarya, she held doubt for most of her life. She lived each day as if it were her last because it could be. She kicked, swung, and clawed her way through and she still wasn't certain if she would make it. Zarya Vasile held a fight in her that Lucifer realized he had held in higher regard than his sister. Zarya was defiant, rebellious, and above all else determined. She was a creature more mighty than Remiel could ever consider she was.

"You let go of Riel to be here," she realized. A prideful half smile ghosted his face because of how smart she truly was.

"You wouldn't have made it back through if I wasn't here to guide you. Now hurry up and go before Remiel manages one of her 66 back up plans." He reached through the bars and held his hand out for her to take.

For a moment Zarya flashed back to being a child. It was an odd feeling washing across her, dread against excitement. Something was trying to suck her into the darkness and contain her there but she _knew_ better. Her mind continuously screamed otherwise. The closer she grew to Lucifer's outstretched hand the louder her mind was able to remind her to fight. She couldn't feel any kind of pain from her side leaving the thought of the engravement to be temporarily abandoned. Keeping a safe distance her small hand reached towards his. Lucifer tried to extend further impatiently and slapped his forehead against the bars when she curled her fingers and retracted her hand to her chest.

"You know," she started off quietly, still cradling her hand to her chest and not looking up at him yet, "you angels and your schemes, and the way you think and look at things," she shook her head, "I don't think I'll ever understand. Every piece I put together about the Vasiles and Remiel I seem to know less and less. Just _once_ I wish I could feel confident in what I do or find out like it's not going to come back and bite me in the ass later."

He looked at her for a moment, mildly distracted by the simplest of features; the way she stood, the curve rather than point of her cheek, the bits of her dark hair that somehow always stood out of place. She was innocent, thrown into a tale that she didn't understand. Remiel had preyed on the innocence of the creatures she brought to life. She tempted their insecurities and promised eternal strength. The only one who refused was Zarya. Defiant to the path set before her. Always questioning everything, needing to find reason. Lucifer had done nothing but feed into his sister's games and it was going to ruin a creature so delicate. No, no more. He should have stuck to his own plots to begin with.

"You have my word, Zarya," his voice started low which encouraged her to take another step closer. "I'll take care of my sister before she can lay a feather or arrow on you. I just need you to do one thing for me up there." At last she looked up at him with that magnificent passion in her eyes. "Don't you dare ever say 'yes' to her no matter what tricks she uses or who she threatens. Do you understand me?"

Zarya's eyes widened a little with surprise. Was it another trick from him instead? _Don't be so stupid,_ she scolded herself. _You of all people should be able to see his backhanded help._ That was what had made her skeptical though; she remembered the scar that would forever be embedded in her flesh though she felt no pain anymore, but she could hear the genuine concern in his voice and see it in his eyes. Oddly enough it was a similar gesture that reminded her of Nick.

"Alright," she finally responded in a breath, "but you have to do something too." The look on his face was almost so priceless she could laugh. A smile crept its way onto her pale lips as her hand reached again slowly towards his. Before she took his hand, with her own hovering just above his, he could see the familiar smile across her gentle face. The thunder above didn't even make her flinch anymore. "Never, _ever_ call me Zarya again." Scratch her earlier thought because _that_ reaction was much more priceless that she had started to laugh. "You've called me 'Rya' like Nick did for the last five years. Nick is gone now so if anybody is going to call me Rya I guess you already called dibs."

She gave him one last grin before gripping his hand tight. The playful tug at her lips sparked a newfound rebellion in the archangel. While they found themselves being pulled apart, they strangely clung to one another tighter. They both knew what was happening and what needed to happen, but neither could bring themselves to let go quite yet. A bravely childish part of Zarya had hope that she could pull him back with her. She knew she couldn't, especially not when she felt his cool hand finally slip away from her own.

* * *

"What the hell happened?!" Sam yelled when he found everyone in the bunker.

Zina and Katia began to groan in the corner as they came to but still Nova and Zarya would not budge or breathe. Damon and Dean had the two women cradled protectively with a grieving uncertainty on their laps in their arms. Cas tried to check them both but could find _nothing_. No link to Heaven, Hell, the Other Side, mental turmoil, just _nothing_. Dean looked up to his brother with panic and tears beginning to gather in his evergreen eyes. His heart was pounding in his chest, mouth opening to babble anything to Sam, when both Zarya and Nova shot up gasping for air.

Zarya was pulled immediately into the tightest embrace she had probably ever felt by Dean. His warmth confirmed that she was alive and in one piece but something was still missing from her. "I really thought I had lost you for a minute there," he told her quietly in her ear. He pulled back and started looking her all over. "How do you feel? Are they still in your head?"

"I'm fine, Dean," she offered a half smile. Part of her wanted to tell him about Lucifer protecting her and sending her back but when her mouth opened to do just that she realized _everyone else_ in the room. Through the madness her attention focused solely when she saw Nova. The vampire had awoken as well but her eyes were still fighting off the amethyst and she wasn't responsive. Looking at her Zarya realized she could feel some sort of thudding and clawing in her own head unlike Lucifer or Remiel.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dean shouted as she leapt from his lap and over to the vampire.

"She's still fighting off Remiel," Zarya answered quickly before looking over her shoulder at him. "Do you want Remiel to have a Vasile vampire for a vessel?"

"We came here to save _you_ ," Damon stressed as he continued to hold Nova. "You don't get to wake up like everything is apple pie and flip the script."

"Do _you_ want your woman to be possessed by a psychotic archangel? Last I checked you guys had different issues to work out."

Damon sighed and looked down at a struggling Nova. "I don't see what there is for you to do."

She sat on her knees beside them both and looked him in the eye. "I will _never_ say 'yes' to Remiel. Over my dead, cold, and lifeless corpse. So the safest back door for Nova to use to escape," she smiled softly, "is through me." She grabbed Damon's hand then Nova's and let out a long exhale before her eyes turned magenta.

* * *

Remiel spun Nova around so she was against the second door instead. Nova had slid into the corner of the doorframe as she felt something quake behind it. While Remiel choked her, her emerald eyes looked up for something in the wood. At first nothing had been there, but they both watched as four letters burned their way into the wood: _Z.M.C.V._ Both women knew immediately what those letters meant and had two completely opposite reactions to them.

"No!" Remiel shouted before grabbing Nova's head with her free hand.

Nova had already started to laugh. "You really underestimate that little brat, you know. To be honest, I think we all have." She winked and placed the bottom of her boot flat against the door as wings scorched beside the Z and V. Her head was throbbing and she finally realized the pull she felt was going to the very door she was against. That was when she heard them.

" _Nova!"_

For anyone else it would have been difficult to distinguish but her vampiric hearing could pick out Damon _and_ Zarya calling to her. She reeled up her leg and kicked Remiel off of her with as much force as she could muster just as Zarya's door unlocked and opened behind her. She flipped the bird to the archangel on the ground before disappearing through the doorway. Remiel chased after her, but the door slammed shut and locked leaving Remiel to scream and shout in darkness.

* * *

Once the Mystic Falls natives had taken their leave, the Winchesters, Castiel, Zarya, and Katia all sat around the table at the bunker. Zarya sat between the brothers with Katia beside Dean. Each of them waited for _someone_ to start talking first. Zarya scratched the back of her head before crossing her legs in her chair and shrugging. "My side is healed, surprisingly, for anyone who wants that crossed off their question list."

"That was probably from the dhampir gene trying to kick in when you… well, died," Katia spoke next, her gaze trailing about by the end.

"What the hell even happened?" came Sam with exasperation. "You had a seizure, lost your mind for a while, and Cas and I get back to think you've died."

"Well that one's like a right of passage around here," Dean muttered half with humor.

"Lucifer sent me back," Zarya blurted boldly, capturing everyone's individual attention. "He released Riel to be there when I died to send me back just like he did after the car accident so I wouldn't turn. It's just Remiel topside now."

"Why the fuck would he do that after what _he_ did to you?" Dean snapped loudly.

She decided to shrug and pretend as if she didn't know. "He told me all the time that if I ever came to death he would just bring me back over and over again. Probably part of some twisted, long term plot." She regrettably met Katia's eyes and the dhampir knew right away that Zarya wasn't being truthful. That hadn't been Lucifer's intent at all.

"What about Remiel acquiring Nova Vasile?" Cas asked next.

"She tried, and she failed," Zarya responded cooly. "Nova turned off her humanity; she doesn't feel anything. So whatever Remiel tried to convince her just bounced right off. I'm guessing we all have doors to one another or people we're connected deeply to. Nova was able to channel Lethia through a Moore spell. Nova, Zina, and Katia were able to break through Remiel's walls and channel into me. I just opened the connection to Nova and let her slip back safely into her own head before Remiel could do anything. She will be coming back for more though. And I'm sure she's going to try a hell of a lot harder now."

"We'll be ready," Sam assured her first.

"And we'll gank that bitch once and for all," Dean smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

Zarya smiled at both of them before looking to Katia directly. "I have a question though - what deep, dark, hidey hole did you crawl out of and why?"

Katia's lips pulled into a half smile. "Technically, that's two questions, but," she shrugged and Zarya rolled her eyes. "As you may have noticed, my birth mother and I have psychic tendencies. Mine are on a slightly different wavelength than hers. She's been one more for dreamwalking and hallucinations whereas mine are actually psychic."

"So like, you see the future?" asked Sam.

She nodded. "More or less, yes. I don't get to choose what or when I see so it's taken me all this time to really understand what I do get to see. I have to put the pieces together about when, where, and who I could be seeing. They are very unspecific and it's actually quite infuriating. But I saw Remiel coming for you and I saw my mother and her sister as well. I knew I had to be the missing link to make sure everything came together accordingly."

"Essentially these visions tell you where to be then?" said Cas. "Or was it just that time?"

"Some of them are like that, but others have been things I prevented because I knew they were going to happen. I didn't get a whole lot of detail for this situation so I wasn't certain if I was going to be too late or not."

"What happened to you?" Zarya asked quietly without thinking.

She smiled softly but the gesture was sorrowful, mournful. "Too much to put on your healing mind tonight." She stood then and gave a curt little bow. "Fret not, I will be in touch shortly. Believe it or not, I rather enjoy the company of hunters generally. If you need me I will know."

They called after her as she headed towards the stairs, even got out of their chairs, but as Katia made her way barely ten steps up, she flashed them one last fanged smile before vanishing entirely into darkness without ever reaching the door. The four stared after where she once was. Even Castiel was at a loss for an explanation. They could barely explain anything to begin with. Dhampirs, psychotic angels, emotionless vampires and ones returned from the dead; did anything make sense anymore? Dean's eyes trailed over to his brother making sure Zarya's side really was entirely healed. As his eyes grazed over the lighthearted ravenette he knew only one thing for damn sure made sense right then: Zarya was their family and they would protect her from Heaven, Hell, and everything in between.

When everything was finally calmed, settled, and done for the day/night, Zarya dropped down on her bed heavily. The little bounce and blankets offered her a solace she hadn't felt in some time. She laid there in silence with her eyes closed and no sign of sleep until well past Sam and Dean finally fell asleep for once. As silence cleared through the bunker Zarya's eyes popped open. It had taken her some time, and several extremely back and forth hesitant thoughts, but deep in her mind where the hall of doors resided one door was cracked open.

A bright, golden white light illuminated behind the door. All she did was open it just a crack. Just enough to let some of that light into her otherwise dark hallway. When her eyes opened again she stared up at the ceiling. Part of her hoped to feel or at least sense something, but she wasn't surprised when she didn't. Maybe she just needed the door cracked, rather than swinging open like a screen door in a hurricane.

Zarya decided then and there that she would be making changes to her life. She knew the extent of the dangers that lied in wait for her at last. She was going to have to be emotionless like Nova. Hidden like Katia. Cunning like Zina. Daring like Daciana. Dastardly like Saskia. She needed to be like them, without actually turning into what any of them had become. Zarya needed to rise above them all, above Remiel at the very top. In order to that she was going to have to reach pieces of her that she ignored or didn't think existed. Pieces that Lucifer knew were there. She would need to touch the darkness without allowing it to consume her.

She closed her eyes once more and took a long, deep breath before they opened again. "I know that somehow," she spoke quietly as she brought her clasped hands to her chest, "you will hear me. And when you do," a smirk began to tug at her lips, " _I'll be ready this time, Lucifer._ "

Through the darkness, and rumbling thunder, and echoes of wailing screams he had managed to hear her voice. It started off so softly he almost didn't hear the whispers over the screams. But because it was _her_ , over and over again her words reverberated and repeated until they reached him in full. At first he braced himself, uncertain why she would be calling down to him. Then he heard each word clearly, the syllables slowly bringing him to his feet. A devilish smirk played at his lips before his irises lit up scarlet.

"Don't you worry, Rya," Lucifer spoke back as his hand wound coyly around one of the Cage's bars. "I'm coming back for you. You have my word that I will never stop coming back for you."


	23. The Pain&the Pleasure All Come Together

23: The Pain and the Pleasure All Come Together.

Zarya heard the boys talking as her bare feet padded towards their voices. "A teacher in an all girls school went missing in Flint, Michigan. She was heading to her car, disappeared, and nobody's seen her since," Dean explained.

"Dean, there's nothing here that even remotely suggests that there is a case." Sam argued.

She smiled in the doorway with her arms wrapped around herself. "But there's nothing that even remotely suggests there _isn't_ a case." She grinned.

Dean humored her and started to laugh. "Boom! Come on, Sammy; out there, hunting, it's the only normal there really is anymore."

Sam started looking between the two as if he were waiting for something awful to happen. Instead, Zarya's calm demeanor and gentle smile drew his attention. "I think it's a great idea. I'll go restock my bag."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he halted them both. "We still don't know what could happen out there with the Mark of Cain or even the angels that have a bounty on your head, Zarya."

"Yes but I'm not crippled anymore. No shredded side, no archangels in my noodle, no hallucinations, I'm good to go! The only way to find out what's going on with the Mark is to play it by ear and see what happens. You think monsters are just gonna sit with their thumbs in their assholes because the Winchesters and Siya Clarke's daughter are afraid to go out into the dark?"

"You're sure you're good to go, Zare?" came Dean as he stood from his chair. "What you've been through… it can be a lot for anyone to deal with. You just died, went to Hell, and came back before you could turn into a dhampir. You're positive you're 100 percent?"

She nodded eagerly. "I am beyond ready to get back into the field. Please?" She poked out her bottom lip to both of them.

Sam turned to his brother for some sort of back up. He ended up sighing when Dean only shrugged and grinned himself. "Fine. We leave in twenty."

* * *

Zarya was elated to be back in the backseat of the Impala and hear it roar to life. She almost felt like a kid on Christmas morning with dozens of presents beneath the tree. She stretched out along the backseat and tapped her legs to the beats of Dean's music blaring through the speakers. The first stop they had made to get gas and snacks Sam could say he was mildly more comfortable with being on the road again. While he pumped the gas, Dean and Zarya returned with bags filled with snacks. Zarya had a large can of an energy drink in one hand, and a king size candy bar in the other with a bag hanging off of each bent elbow. He couldn't help but laugh at his brother's excitement over the few miniature pies he had bought.

The second stop they made was just outside of Flint where they changed into their FBI 'uniforms'. Sam and Dean had managed outside near the car, but Zarya opted for the little attached bathroom outside of the gas station. As she stripped down the scars that mutilated her side haunted her through her reflection. Her hand lightly ghosted over the lines in her flesh. "Watch me shine brighter than her, Lucifer," she spoke barely above a whisper before slipping on and zipping up her pencil skirt. Once she was dressed she took half of her thick hair and pulled it back into a ponytail, still leaving half of her hair down and flowing. To be safe she added some concealer and mascara to her eyes.

"Still loathe pencil skirts!" She grinned as she emerged. Both brother's brows raised, prompting her to do a little spin. "Been a while since I've had to look this nice, huh?"

"You look great, Zare," Dean smiled at her. "Let's go see what's up with this case."

As they drove into Flint, Zarya called the local police department and used her sweet but coy voice to lure answers out of the sheriff. "Yes, I certainly appreciate it. You've got it. Thank you, officer." She ended the call and the trio exited the car, looking up at a high school. "So, the last place Ms. Chandler was seen by anyone was in the auditorium. Turns out she's the drama teacher."

"Ugh, theater kids." Dean rolled his eyes. "Great."

Sam gave him a sideglance as they started to walk up. "What? I was a theater kid."

"Barely. You did Our Town, which was cool. But then, you did that crappy musical."

"The- Oklahoma ? Hugh Jackman got cast off of Oklahoma."

"You ran tech, Wolverine."

"Shut up."

Zarya had began to laugh and resisted the urge to let out one of her full blown laughs. Instead, she stepped between the brothers as they entered the school and linked arms with both of them. "It's okay, Sammy," she grinned up at him. "They tried getting me to be a band geek in school."

The principal greeted them and guided them to the auditorium where students were practicing a scene. Their eyes widened when they realized what exactly it was that the students were performing.

" _John and Mary, husband and wife  
_ _Bringing home a brand new life  
_ _His name is Sammy,  
_ _I'm big brother, Dean.  
_ _The perfect family, or so it seems.  
_ _The demon's visits had begun  
_ _He believed Sam was the chosen one  
_ _It burned my mother,  
_ _And it cursed my brother  
_ _Leaving us in tears  
_ _On the road so far,  
_ _Yeah, the road so far!  
_ _We are in Dad's car-_ "

"Cut!" Someone else shouted below, halting the performance.

Zarya's eyes were as wide as plates, jaw half dropped. Girls were dressed up like Sam, Dean, Cas, Bobby, John, Mary, the whole nine yards. "What the fuck…" She muttered with a half, relatively humorless laugh.

"This must be based off of Chuck's freakin' books," Sam realized.

Her wide eyes turned to the abnormally tall Winchester. "What freakin' books?!"

"There is no singing in Supernatural!" Dean blurted out with irritation as they made their way down towards the stage.

"Well," one of the girls started in retaliation to Dean, "this is Marie's interpretation…"

"I'm sorry," Zarya painted on a massive and curious smile as she extended her hand, "Agent Nicks. These are my partners, Agents Smith… and Smith." Her lips twitched a little. "No relation. It's quite amusing. Uh, forgive me but I don't think I've actually heard about the origins of your show here."

The girls' eyes widened. "You've never heard of _Supernatural_ by Carver Edlund?!" Marie exclaimed. It was then that she got a slightly better look at Zarya's face. "That's actually kind of funny because you look _exactly_ like he described a character in the spin off."

"Spin off?!" The brothers exclaimed in unison.

Maeve snickered a little as she looked between the three agents. "So you two don't know about the spin off and she doesn't know about the original series? How often do you guys even work together?"

"It's uh… it's been since after the books came out," Sam supplied. "When was there a spin off?"

"It was alongside the last book," Marie answered. "They were only published online so I guess it's not a huge surprise that not everyone knows about it."

"What happens in it? Who's the main character that looks like Agent Nicks?"

"Her name is Zarya, and she's like… the not vigilante, female superhero we've all been waiting for! She's the reason Sam didn't have to go to Hell in the last book."

"Why's that?" came Dean.

"You'd have to read it," Maeve insisted before Marie could go on a tangent about the books. "It is online so I'll go get the link for you."

"Right." Sam nodded as she walked away. "Anyways. We're here to talk about the disappearance of Ms. Chandler. Any chance you two saw her, before she vanished?"

"Hum, yeah. She left around, like, 9:30?" Marie shrugged.

"Any idea where she would be headed at that time of night?"

"A bar?" Marie shrugged again. "A liquor store? Maybe both?"

"Wow," Zarya's brows raised. "Really?"

"She had a nasty divorce, last year. Most of the time, she's sipping on her, uh, grown-up juice, or passed out. Usually, in that order."

"Yeah, well, I don't blame her." Came Dean. "I'm gonna need fifty yellow shots and an oz down to get this stick off of me."

Zarya put one hand on her hip and used the other to smack his arm hard enough for him to need to rub it. Maeve returned with the website and Sam got her to show him around behind the scenes. Marie brought Zarya and Dean to Ms. Chandler's office. Once Marie was back to working on the show, Dean sighed and shook his head. "I'm gonna throw up."

"Oh come on, Dean," she laughed a little before pulling out an EMF detector. "It's not _that_ bad. They're trying their best. Now, what is this about a book series about you two?" She giggled.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We met this guy, a prophet, who turned out to be writing just about everything about our lives because, well, he was a prophet who knew. He was a drunk and we told him absolutely no more damn books."

"Well I suppose online publishing doesn't quite count," she winked playfully.

"You just feel special knowing he wrote some trash about you out there too," he teased back.

"Considering no one should have known I exist you can paint me curious. How many times do you hear the name 'Zarya' for anyone else randomly across the states?"

When they returned to the stage area, Siobhan and Maggie were rehearsing again. Dean's face scrunched up as he watched. "What are they doing?"

"Oh!" Marie jumped a little. "Um, they're rehearsing the B.M. scene."

The two agents exchanged looks and spoke in unison, "The bowel movement scene?"

"No! The boy melodrama scene!" That explained nothing to neither of them. "You know, the scene where the boys get together, and they're - they're driving, or leaning against Baby. Drinking a beer, sharing their feelings. The two of them. Alone. But together. Bonded. United. The power of the brotherly-"

"Why are they standing so close together?" Zarya couldn't help but laugh behind her hand. Of course Dean would question something like that.

"Um… Reasons."

"You know they're brothers, right?" Zarya still couldn't stop chuckling through her words.

"Well, duh! But… Subtext. Zarya doesn't exist in their world yet."

"Why don't you take some substeps back there, ladies?" Dean shouted up at the actresses. The ravenette beside him was having great difficulty not laughing.

* * *

Since arriving back at their motel room, Sam and Dean went to town about the actual case. Zarya found herself nose deep in Carver Edlund's spin off, _Dangerous._ There were only three books online, each of which were fifteen chapters long. She sat on the bed with her glasses up her nose and face buried in the screen of her laptop. She had looked up notes about the _Supernatural_ series since she didn't have the immediate time to read them all. It was curious that the _Supernatural_ series never mentioned Sam or Dean's last name and she was realizing the same was going for the Zarya in _Dangerous_.

"Hey, lame novel nerd," Dean called playfully to get her attention, "you finding any actual information in that garbage?"

"Believe it or not, yeah," she answered as she continued to read. "Just like the Sam and Dean in _Supernatural_ no last name is ever listed for this Zarya. Not Deighton, Vasile, just Zarya. Aside from that, she uses an old revolver, races Dean's Impala in her coup DeVille, and has an arrow birthmark on her shoulder aside from the standard details like hair, eyes, and figure."

"Arrow birthmark?" Sam questioned. "You have an arrow birthmark?"

She set down her computer for a moment and turned around on the bed so her back was to them. She pulled her hair off of her shoulders before tugging her t-shirt up over enough to expose the pale skin and mark standing out against it. "I never understood what it was or why I had it growing up. Nick always said I was just meant to be an archer." She smiled mournfully before pulling her shirt back down. "It's apparently Remiel's mark on each of us."

"It's the sign of the warrior," Sam slightly corrected. He jumped back onto his own laptop and started typing away. "I had seen something about it when we were originally looking into you five years ago. Didn't think much of it then but now it makes sense." He turned the screen and showed Zarya and Dean the lore of the bow and arrow birthmark. "Remiel's arrows actually scorched her in the fall, burning into her palm. So just like the… the Mark of Cain," his eyes darted nervously between the two for a moment, "another mark got passed through Runa to each descendant."

"What makes it the 'sign of the warrior' then?" questioned Dean. "Wouldn't it be on people that aren't Vasiles too?"

"You'd think that, but because of all that Remiel has forced to happen, it's…"

Zarya nodded slowly with understanding. "It's the mark of Remiel's warriors. Her strongest descendants."

"Exactly. So I'm not certain that you'll find the mark on _every_ Vasile."

"Well it's on me," she shrugged. "And it's on this Zarya," she gestured to her computer, "so it's got to mean something. This Carver Edlund guy knew more than he was leading on. I- I mean, the way he words this crap, it's like… it's like…" Her face contorted with confusion and uncertainty at the words on her screen.

"What happens in _Dangerous_?" asked Sam. "What's that Zarya's story?"

She scoffed a little and ran a hand through her messy, dark hair. "She was a hunter, through and through. Her parents died in the field, leaving a mysterious message about the fate of the world and Zarya's part in it." Her lips started to twitch as she spoke. "So she traveled with her best friend in an attempt to find answers, slaying anything that came in her way."

"Let me guess," Dean swigged his beer, "the best friend's name was Nick?"

"Yahtzee," she half groaned. "They travel and dig everything up piece by piece. Zarya returns to Nick one night after 'a slay' as she calls it, but he's not Nick anymore."

"Lucifer," Sam realized stiffly.

Zarya nodded. "She runs but he finds her. She fights him off but it barely affects him. He lets her go and she knows it. She finds herself in Carthage, Missouri eventually, surrounded by Reapers. She doesn't know nobody else can see them because it's always been a norm for her. So she flips up her hood and starts going through the town when she crosses paths with other hunters. But she doesn't play well with other hunters so she tries to swoop in and be a hero without being seen or called upon. They're all awestruck as this mysterious woman starts going to town on Hellhounds that she can also apparently see. Before the hunters can catch her though, she's gone in the darkness.  
"Zarya knows Lucifer is in that town, he has to be. She's hoping she can take him down and save Nick but she barely believes in God and angels so she has no fucking clue what she's going up against. It comes to a point where he challenges her…" She trailed off, her eyes looking grimly at the words on the screen. "Go fight him and hope she can get through to Nick, or save the lives of hunters trapped by Hellhounds." The boys' eyes widened as if they weren't shocked enough already having to think about Carthage again. They knew the hunters in the story were Jo and Ellen, about to be blown up in the hardware store. She brought a hand to her mouth and rubbed it for a moment solemnly. The brothers knew what she was about to tell them. "Zarya chose to find Lucifer rather than save the hunters. They died because of her and she walked right into Lucifer's trap."

"That's not on you, Zare," Dean spoke immediately. "You weren't even around then. I have no idea why the hell Chuck would write something like that."

"I don't even remember it being in the _Supernatural_ books," Sam added quietly.

"So it really happened?" Her voice cracked a little. "Reapers and Hellhounds and dead hunters in Carthage?"

"Their names were Jo and Ellen Harvelle," Sam explained quietly. "We got trapped in a hardware store by Hellhounds and we rigged bombs that they decided to detonate because Jo was already severely injured. It wasn't your fault, Zarya. It was their decision. It gave us the window to…" He then trailed off, remembering exactly what had happened. He knew by her glistening and big eyes that she wasn't oblivious either.

"To see if the Colt would kill Lucifer," she breathed just above a whisper. One of her slender fingers tapped the laptop. "He made her watch. He had her captured because she decided not to save… to save Jo and Ellen, and told her he knew a couple other hunters got their hands on the Colt and wanted to use it on him. He told her how it wouldn't work and if she could stop them then she would at least save Nick. God how she tried and she fought, but nothing she did would free her until the shot rang through the night sky. When Lucifer stood back up she abandoned all hope left.  
"When he came back for her, after he summoned Death and ditched the hunters, he knew how broken she had become. There was no hope of humanity left for Zarya. Nothing _human_ worth clinging onto anymore. So she fell into darkness instead. The first book ends with Zarya siding with Lucifer; becoming his slayer; his executioner. His partner."

The three were quiet for a long while, taking in the information. Sam was the first to clear his throat and speak. "Wh-what about the second and third books though? The girls mentioned Zarya being the reason Sam didn't go to Hell in the last Supernatural book. How could that be a thing if she was so antisocial under the hood and working for Lucifer?"

"Well," she sighed, "I'm only a couple of chapters into the second book. The first is actually _Dangerous: Let Me In,_ the second is _In the Shadows,_ and the third _Devil Pray_. So I can't exactly say I'm very confident about how this Zarya's story is going to go."

Before Dean could speak, his phone rang. One of the girls, Maggie, had gone missing that time. They decided the brothers would check it out quick that time and Zarya would keep reading. Maybe there was something in the books that would give them some sort of clue. A tulpa, a spirit, _something_. They figured they would just go check it out quick and come back to plan.

"You sure you'll be fine with that creepy ass book alone here?" Dean verified before they walked out the door.

Zarya nodded and smiled softly up at him. "It's just a book series, Dean. It didn't even get really published. Mark my words though, if I ever meet this Carver or Chuck or whoever he thinks he is, I am _totally_ letting him have it for this horseshit. I might even break his nose." She winked playfully.

He laughed a little and ruffled up her already messy hair before kissing the top of her head protectively. "Yeah, I'm sure you would, Zare. Alright, call if you need anything. We'll be back shortly."

Once they were gone, the roar of the Impala out of earshot, Zarya situated herself in her pajamas on a bed with the laptop. Through _In the Shadows_ , Zarya fought alongside Lucifer in an effort to take down his tyrannical brother Michael. Supposedly it was Michael who sent her family on a goose chase just to kill them. While on a hunt one night she ends up accidentally saving Sam and Dean before getting severely injured herself. They return the favor and save her, but when she wakes up and realizes what's happened she freaks out. She knew Lucifer would be looking for her.

Sam and Dean convinced her it's wiser to stay put because of the extent of her injuries. She wasn't used to being in so much physical pain because Lucifer would always heal her and prevent her from dying. They open her eyes to the real world and other hunters. She realizes she's been being played the entire time. With Sam as his vessel and Zarya by his side Lucifer would have been unbeatable. Just as the real Zarya started to grow hope for the fate of the fictional one as she joined sides with Sam and Dean, everything went crumbling back down.

Before Sam could say 'yes' to the archangel, Zarya stepped in. She offered herself up in Sam's stead. Lucifer tossed Sam aside and she walked herself right up to the devil. Sam and Dean begged her not to, but after selfishly allowing so many others to die in her wake and losing Nick, Zarya decided then that she would be the martyr. The real Zarya was on edge just as deeply as the book one as they awaited what Lucifer's punishment would be. Would she be dragged to Hell? His new vessel? Bait for Michael? An eternal punching bag?

Zarya's heart beat rapidly against the bones of her chest as she read, flashbacks of her own life haunting her. Lucifer had grabbed the girl and held her tightly against him. She hadn't noticed the way he purposely cut his own lip before kissing her, only the blood that dripped down the corners of their connected mouths. Subconsciously as she read, Zarya's fingers ghosted across her own pale lips as she recalled a similar experience. Zarya had blacked out in the book as soon as he pulled away and whispered something in her ear. He allowed the brothers to care for her, until he returned for her that was.

" _I am coming back for you one day, Rya,"_ he whispered. " _You have my word."_

She slammed the laptop shut, her heart pounding. She couldn't bring herself to read the third and final book yet. Only God knew what could possibly be written. Was it meant to be the final installment? Had it been canceled? Had Chuck or Carver or whatever his name was just given up? Canceled the rest of the series? She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what happened in the last fifteen chapters that existed.

" _Rya…"_

Zarya's eyes widened as large as they could possibly go when she heard the faint echo of a whisper. The simple word, _nickname_ , chilled her to the core. It certainly wasn't Nick's spirit calling out to her that time. No, she knew that tone anywhere. "Not again," she whispered as her voice shook. Another forced hallucination perhaps?

" _Rya…"_

A sharp intake of breath. No, it wasn't a hallucination of any kind. The way the room chilled around her, she knew.

* * *

"So, this scarecrow," said Sam, "from your musical, is it based on the one from the books?"

Marie shook her head. "No, I changed it. I got scared of a local legend, when I was a kid. There was this old creepy scarecrow, on an abandoned farm, outside of town. Kids used to say, if it caught you, it would take you away."

"Okay," Dean nodded slowly, "if this scarecrow is based over your version, then Ms. Chandler and Maggie might still be alive."

As they began to work the idea of a tulpa, Marie couldn't stop looking at Sam and Dean. Were they really the real Sam and Dean? Was that third agent really Zarya? After one too many thoughts and 'what ifs' Marie just couldn't take it anymore. "She's really Zarya, isn't she? Your other partner, I mean. All this monster stuff is real; is she, too?"

"What makes you think she is?" came Dean slightly harshly.

"Everything," Maeve answered instead which furthered Marie's wild thoughts. "I saw the way the light hits her hair - the indigo tint. And her eyes! I know some people have blue-green eyes, it's a really nice color, but hers are _so_ green with a blue undertone. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I _swear_ I saw a revolver on her hip."

"Why are you guys seemingly obsessed with Zarya being real but we're Bobby and Rufus? What the hell happens to Zarya?"

The girls looked at each other before Marie answered. "She's our hero. After everything she's been through - losing her parents, her best friend to the devil, sacrificing the lives of the innocent, still she tries to be a martyr and a savior. She tries so freaking hard to love and be loyal but deep down she feels like nothing but a… a…"

"A monster?" he answered gravely.

They nodded. "Exactly. No matter how hard she tries to just live and be good, everything she does still has an awful consequence to it. Each time she saves someone she damns herself further yet she continues to do it."

"What happens at the end of the series?" Sam asked suddenly. "Why does that sound like there isn't a very good ending?"

"There really isn't," Maeve answered with a frown. "We're still hoping for a continuation, but…"

"But what?" Dean practically demanded.

"In the end," Marie started, "she was always meant to be Lucifer's. In truth, he was all she ever knew. They're two halves of a whole. So to protect Sam and Dean once more she returns to him just as she was always destined to."

"Wha- what's that supposed to mean?" Sam started to panic a little.

"She summons him," the latter girl told them. "They're about to face one of the worst creatures and she knows the only way out is Lucifer so she frees him from Hell, slays the monster together, and she goes to say goodbye to the boys."

"They didn't know what she had done," Marie explained. "So when she starts babbling her goodbyes they're confused. Then Lucifer comes and puts a hand on her shoulder. They try to fight him off just like she once had, but she tells them it's what was always meant for her. One way or another she _always_ ends up back in Lucifer's arms."

"' _I don't belong here,_ '" Maeve clasped her hands over her chest and recited from memory. "' _I'm not a monster hunter, I'm a monster. And the only place I truly belong, is beneath Lucifer's wings.'_ "

"' _I don't want or deserve your forgiveness,_ '" Marie continued. "' _This is exactly where I was meant to be. There won't be a next hunt. It was always Lucifer and it's always going to be Lucifer. Slán, deartháireacha._ '"

They blinked and stared at her for a moment. "What the hell was that last part you phlegmed out?" Dean asked without tact, earning an elbow from his brother.

"It's Irish," Maeve answered with an eyeroll. "She's Irish. 'Farewell, brothers'."

"That was the big secret," added Marie. "That Zarya had to find the rumored land of _Tír na nÓg_ in Ireland."

Before the elder Winchester could ask what _that_ was, Sam told him, " _Tír na nÓg_ is the Celtic's Otherworld or Land of Youth. It was rumored to be the land of the fae and the heart of all magic but it's _eternal_."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you could step foot, if you found the doorway, and think you're there for only a day but it's been a century outside of _Tír na nÓg_. You don't age a day in that world, but it's not guaranteed out here. The Irish tell the tale of the warrior Oisin who fell in love with the princess of _Tír na nÓg_. He spent years there with her but finally felt homesick for Ireland and his family. He traveled home on his 'magical white mare' to find all of his friends and family aged and dead because it had been over a century. His castle was consumed by vines and he lost everything. Turning back to return to _Tír na nÓg_ , his horse caught a stone in its hoof. Oisin decided that would be his remembrance of Ireland in _Tír na nÓg_ but when he bent down to retrieve it, he fell and aged all of the years he had been gone."

"That's what's so special about Zarya," Marie exclaimed. "She was meant to be the queen of _Tír na nÓg_. That's why it seems like she never aged, or at least slowly, even in the mortal world. She's half mortal, half eternal. It's exactly why she was perfect for Lucifer."

"She always gave him a challenge," added Maeve. "Mouthed off, fought back, but he loved every second of it. My theory is that he whisked her away to _Tír na nÓg_ and the next book would be them both at full power and knowledge. It would probably even be a crossover with _Supernatural_. Like a real start to finish cross-fic because there's no way Sam and Dean would just let her go like that."

"Absolutely not," Marie agreed. "The subtext between Zarya and Dean is…" She used her hands to pantomime her head exploding. "I couldn't write that kind of fiery longing if my life depended on it."

Maeve rolled her eyes. "She's always been a sap for Dearya, but Lurya is _so_ much hotter." She fanned herself dramatically with her hand. "Sure there's that untouchable longing between Zarya and Dean, but the heat and passion between Zarya and Lucifer is like, straight out of Hell."

"Gee, I wonder why," Marie commented with irritation.

Sam and Dean had certainly heard enough by the time they had left. First it was the rehearsing of 'Destiel' when they arrived, then to top it off the 'passion' between Lucifer and Zarya. Dean could feel himself ready to punch a hole through steel. "I just don't understand," Sam commented as they walked out to the car.

"Yeah, you and me both, brother," Dean muttered before putting his hand on the handle.

"I mean, shouldn't it be Deastiel?" Dean's eyes widened with horror. "Darya?"

"Seriously?" He barked. "That's your issue with this?"

Sam smirked teasingly. "No, of course it's not my issue. You know… How about Sastiel? Samstiel?"

"Okay, alright. You know what? You're gonna do that thing, where you just shut the hell up. Forever."

Still, Sam snickered as they got into the car. "Well I mean, it's not quite right trying to pair myself with Zarya. Sarya? Zam?" He chuckled. "I guess Dearya works. I can ship it."

"Yeah? I got a cannon for your ships, bro. And I'm gonna blow them all into the damn water."

* * *

Fingers wrapped around a door eerily that was left cracked open. A light was shining through the crack where the fingers came from, pouring into the pitch black hallway filled with doors. Slowly, the door creaked open, the sigil engraved on the other side vanishing as the door swung open and hit the wall. Cautiously feet emerged out of the light until Lucifer was standing boldly in the middle of the endless hallway. A smirk tugged at his lips when he realized. One way or another, Zarya Vasile would _always_ be _his_. Even if she wasn't certain of it yet.

Outside of her state of mind, Zarya had fallen asleep a couple of chapters into _Devil Pray._ She had decided whiskey would go wonderfully with whatever Hell she was about to read and got drunk before the end of the third chapter. She had realized she was just as torn as the book Zarya: fighting alongside the Winchesters yet still drawn back to Lucifer. In her moment of weakness that she called to him, almost challenged him, she honestly hadn't thought he would hear her. At least not right away if at all. What a shock it was when she was buzzed and reading about her book counterpart doing some of the same shit when she would hear _his_ voice again.

Zarya believed it was the whiskey and reading. It was rotting her mind, or whatever was left of it. Her cheeks were rosy and heartbeat increasing quickly. Lucifer was in Hell entirely again. It wasn't like an instant messenger or anything. Who knew how long it would be before she would have to face him again?

She shot up in the motel bed dripping with sweat from the extensively vivid dream she had. No, that one was _definitely_ the book screwing with her. Book Zarya had a painfully vivid sex dream of the archangel so naturally hot and bothered whiskey drunk Zarya had to as well. She realized her laptop was still open and the words were terrorizing her once again. She slammed the device shut, deciding she desperately needed a cool shower. However, as she finally started to relax beneath the water, flashes of her wild summer with Demon Dean came back to haunt her. Once again she could feel his almost burningly warm hands all over her bare skin. The bruises, the bitemarks, the liquor. She groaned and rested her forehead against a wall, letting the water cascade across her body mindlessly.

It was the stupid books, Zarya decided as she wrapped herself in a motel towel. She had been reading for hours on end the straight fanservice and tug of war between Dean and Lucifer with Zarya in the middle. Naturally she would be fried. She just needed to take a break and focus on hunting rather than whatever was at the end of the novel. Heaving a sigh Zarya realized she had forgotten to grab clothes to change into. Before she turned the knob she heard the brothers return and shrugged.

"I, uh, forgot clothes…" She spoke immediately as she darted to her duffel bag with a hand clutching the towel around her tightly.

Sam tried to look literally anywhere else including at some dirt on his shoes. Dean's eyes kept bouncing between anything else and Zarya. The way her dark and damp hair slung over one shoulder, some water drops sliding down the bare skin of her shoulder and arm; the way the towel covered just enough below her hips without reaching much of her thighs. Sam noted the way his brother's cheeks and ears turned bright red when Zarya flashed him a smile before darting back into the bathroom with her clothes.

"It's, uh, Calliope," Dean told her when she finally emerged wearing clothes.

"The Goddess of Epic Poetry?" Zarya questioned with skepticism. "Why?"

"According to the lore," Sam explained, "Calliope manifests creatures from the story she's tuned into. She uses these manifestations, like the scarecrow, to inspire the author, and protect them, until their vision has realized."

"Then what?"

"Then she eats the author," said Dean.

Zarya's face deadpanned and her eye twitched a little. Somehow doing the job every single day there were still things that surprised or disgusted her. She clicked her tongue against her teeth and pinched the bridge of her nose. "That's what the teacher and classmate did. They tried to shut her down, and the scarecrow took them. Protecting Marie, and the show. So now what?"

"Calliope won't show herself until Marie's vision has been realized." Sam pointed out. "And with everything that's happened, some of the girls have tried to back out…"

"Which makes them targets," she sighed.

"You ever try theater?" Dean asked suddenly.

Her eyes widened and she took a step back waving her hands in disagreement. "No. Hell no. I have been bait, I've been in a djinn's mind trap, a nest of vamps, terrorized by archangels, and even returned temporarily to being a stripper for a case. That is _not_ a stage that I'm going to step foot on in the hopes that some Goddess of the Muse will try and murder me rather than a student! For fuck's sake they're doing a show about _your_ lives in _your_ crappy books. Who the hell would they even have me be?"

* * *

"This is not right," Zarya stated flatly with a twitch of her eye.

With all of the insanity surrounding the show, Siobhan had conveniently "gotten sick" and without an understudy it was so easy to slip a rather teen figured Zarya in alongside Marie. It had taken plenty of arguing and some forcing, but she found herself stomping her steel toed boot backstage dressed like Dean. To make matters worse, she was standing beside the real Dean who couldn't have been more amused. Her hair had been pulled back beneath a wig cap and a short, spiked, light brown wig slapped on top. The old looking duster had to be meant for or at least altered for a women's body yet it still remained thick and bulky on her.

"This… This is all my fault." Marie started to panic. "If I hadn't written this dumb play, none of this would've happened."

"Okay, first of all, the play is not dumb," Dean assured her.

Zarya's arms seemed to cross a little tighter over her rather strapped down chest. "Yeah, now you're having fun with this aren't you?" She grumbled with daggers at the elder Winchester.

"I thought you didn't believe in this interpretation," Marie commented.

"Yeah, I don't. Look, like, at all. But you do. Okay? And I need you to believe in it with all you got. So that we can kill Calliope, and we can save your friends." He looked to the ever irritated Zarya as she basically cosplayed himself with a small smile. "Besides, you're gonna be up there with the girl who can play Dean and keep safe as best as the real one. Can you do that?"

Feeling much more confident, especially when Zarya seemed to ease up a little, Marie put on her wig and geared up to go. "Alright! Samulet?"

"Samulet?" Dean and Zarya questioned in unison.

One of the other show runners ran up suddenly and place a corded necklace around Zarya's neck. She toyed with the little golden amulet at the end, not understanding what it was. "That amulet is a symbol of the Winchesters' brotherly love," Marie answered. Dean recognized the trinket and partially wondered what actually happened to his in Castiel's old quest for God.

"I have had 27 minutes to read over this script," Zarya whisper yelled to Dean as the rest of the cast huddled up. "It's a fucking musical. I barely sing. I would literally rather be wearing a blonde wig and much less clothes right now."

Dean couldn't resist the chuckle-almost laugh that came right up. "Well, if you really want, I can start checking for stripper cases again. I mean, I wouldn't-"

"Very funny, asshat." She smiled up at him. "I still haven't lived down the stripper thing, so let's not use this to replace it or so help me God you will be playing the Shadow Game with me until you die."

"Go break a leg, Zare," he laughed and pulled her in for a quick hug. Just across the backstage Marie watched most of it unfold. Her eyes widened a little, wondering if they really, truly were Dean and Zarya. If they were, she could only hope that their story had a much different outcome.

Zarya's face gave one final, allotted scrunch in disdain before the curtain rose. It wasn't particularly her style of music, but with any luck it was only a matter of time before some goddess was trying to kick her ribs in. "You really think she's got this?" Sam whispered to his brother as he handed him a stake.

"I think she's gonna want to do shots when this over," Dean grinned at his brother.

" _John and Mary, husband and wife  
_ _Bringing home a brand new life  
_ _His name is Sammy,  
_ _I'm big brother, Dean.  
_ _The perfect family, or so it seems._

 _The demon's visits had begun  
_ _He believed Sam was the chosen one  
_ _It burned my mother,  
_ _And it cursed my brother  
_ _Leaving us in tears_

 _On the road so far,  
_ _Yeah, the road so far!  
_ _We are in Dad's car  
_ _On the road, so, far..."_

Unbenounced to the girls on the stage, the brothers began fending off the scarecrow behind the scene.

" _Dad was driven, no turning back  
_ _He wouldn't stop without the payback  
_ _He trained us both to track and hunt and kill  
_ _He took away our own free will_

 _On the road so far  
_ _Saving people, hunting things, family business  
_ _Back in swing  
_ _Driving down the road so far…"_

Zarya had to admit, the lyrics were actually quite morbid. She knew Sam and Dean didn't exactly get into hunting by choice, but she could only imagine what lyrics someone could write to her own life. No wonder the brothers weren't terribly amused by the show. It was a bit of a stiff start for her, but Zarya had managed to ease her way into the performance. At first she felt like it was a mockery until she realized what fun she could have doing it. Judging by the script and whatever was based on the books, Dean prior to Zarya was rather brooding and self-sacrificing. Well, not _much_ had changed. She realized just how clueless she had been so long ago too. An entire apocalypse was happening and she was getting drunk every other day with her best friend because they hated their lives but not each other.

She wasn't terribly fond of the slowness during the "Single Man Tear" scene. By time she was at the front of the stage with Marie being Sam, the real Dean was fighting Calliope's scarecrow behind them. She started slipping up her words, itching to get into the fight. Dean broke a plank over the scarecrow to which it flung him across the stage and bee-lined for Marie. On instinct Zarya shoved Marie behind her and whipped out her revolver. As soon as the young playwright laid eyes on the weapon she _knew_ with all of her heart that it was true. Unsure of the actual lyrics anymore, Zarya went with the piano playing and broke into a different song to at least keep the musical going.

" _And I can't see in the stormy weather  
_ _I can't seem to keep it all together  
_ _And I, I can't swim the ocean like this forever  
_ _And I can't breathe…_ "

She wasn't sure if her revolver would actually doing anything to the scarecrow and she hadn't exactly wanted to pull the trigger on a real gun in the middle of a filled auditorium. Cautiously, her and Marie took a couple of steps back while the show continued.

" _God, keep my head above water!  
_ _I lose my breath at the bottom  
_ _Come rescue me, I'll be waiting  
_ _I'm too young to fall asleep…_ "

Just to be safe, her finger got ready to pull the trigger.

" _God, keep my head above water  
_ _Don't let me drown, it gets harder  
_ _I'll meet you there at the altar  
_ _As I fall down to my knees…_ "

Without having any other choice, Zarya pulled back on the trigger. The shot rang through the entire auditorium, yet none of the spectators actually knew. At the same time that Zarya's bullet pierced the scarecrow, Sam stabbed Calliope in the basement. For a split second that felt like an eternity everything was absolutely silent. Calliope exploded and the scarecrow followed suit, spraying goo all over the front row. Marie and Zarya froze on stage, waiting for something awful to happen, when the audience stood and clapped in full.

* * *

"You keep writing, Shakespeare," Dean told Marie with a half smile.

"Even if it doesn't match how you see it?"

"I have my version, and you have yours."

She bit her lip and looked back up at him. "Listen, in _my_ version, I'd have Dean fight a lot harder to keep Zarya around." His eyes widened a little. "I don't think Mr. Edlund is ever going to continue _Supernatural_ or _Dangerous_ and if he had made Dean try harder instead of thinking he's not good enough then it would have kept her away from Lucifer's tempt. That's what it's always been about: showing her there's more to this world than what you're told to do. She belongs with Team Free Will." She smiled softly before returning to the stage for the ending scene. Naturally since Calliope had been tended to Siobhan was "feeling much better" and reprised her role as Dean without any fight from Zarya.

The brothers waited for her to emerge from the dressing rooms as the students set up for the ending song. Dean was first to lay eyes on the ravenette as soon as he heard her combat boots against the creaking wood. She jostled her hair around a few times with her hands since her scalp was free of a cap and wig. She had returned to her own bootcut blue jeans with rips beginning in the knees, a black camisole, and dark blue flannel. She gave him a wide grin when she met his eyes. "Ready to hit the road?" She looked up at the both of them as the song began.

" _Carry on my wayward son  
_ _There'll be peace when you are done  
_ _Lay your weary head to rest  
_ _Don't you cry no more…_ "

The three of them took one more look across the way at the final scene. Surprisingly enough, Zarya smiled with a small sense of pride and hope and started to sing along.

" _Once I rose above the noise and confusion  
_ _Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion  
_ _I was soaring ever higher  
_ _But I flew too high_

 _Masquerading as a man with a reason  
_ _My charade is the event of the season  
_ _And if I claimed to be a wise man  
_ _It surely means I don't know_

 _Carry on my wayward son  
_ _There'll be peace when you are done  
_ _Lay your weary head to rest  
_ _Don't you cry no more_

 _Carry on…_ "


	24. And Now It's Do or Die

24: And Now It's Do or Die.

"You're sure you'll be alright, Clarke?" Sam brought a smile to the ravenette's face one of the few times he called her 'Clarke'. "We're gonna be gone for a few days."

Zarya sat on the table while the brothers packed with a bottle of absinthe in her hand and grin on her face. She remained in her pajamas: black leggings and a purple tank top, with her hair in a high, messy bun. "Listen, all I want are a few days of peace and quiet when I'm not playing my drums. I've got the phones if anyone needs me, but I've also got this," she held up the bottle with a toothy grin, "so hopefully no one needs me at least today."

"Did you uh," Dean started as he zipped his bag, "have you finished that spin off series yet?"

She cackled a little before swigging the liquor. "No thank you. Whatever my alternate reality's self decided to is all set with me 'cause it ain't my life." She shrugged. "She was a little extra emo for my tastes. Almost too much Stefan Salvatore."

"I see you've been catching up on your Mystic Falls history though."

"They've got a lot more secrets and hidden plots to dig up. It's pretty amusing. For instance: did you know that Nova was nearly forced to marry Klaus Mikaelson? He even tried to compel her and the whole nine yards. That was the first time she shut it off and went bat shit around town. I guess I couldn't exactly blame her for that."

Sam laughed a little. "So you're just reading through Mystic Falls' history as if it's a book series?"

"Oh they make it so easy, Sammy. It's just chapter after chapter of lies, love, heartbreak, murder, and idiocy. If I had to guess, I think I'd say I'm somewhere around book five out of seven? Everybody comes and goes like fucking herpes to that town, I just don't understand. Some books are longer than others. It's looking like Nova's return is gonna be one of the longest. She's been up to some shiesty shit since she stepped foot in town."

They both hugged her and Dean threw in a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't get too obsessed to Mystic Falls," he told her playfully. "Once this crap is all over I think we'll pay 'em a little visit." He smirked.

"I literally dare you to do that," a gentle, humored voice came from the stairs. Down to them walked Katia Vasile as if she owned the place. "Oh, come on, enough with those judgey eyes, boys. You've worked with worse creatures and your best friend here runs the risk of turning into one of me but upgraded."

"Upgraded?" Piqued the Vasile in question which earned her a Gibbs' slap from both brothers.

"Sorry to say," Katia continued nonchalantly, "but I'm preparing for the worst that you three could possibly cause. So you two go about your family business and I'll catch Zarya up on our family business."

"And we're just supposed to trust you alone with Zare?" came Dean defensively and protectively.

The dark eyed girl's face deadpanned as she stared up at him. "Uh, duh? I've made it my life's mission to uncover the truth and protect those in the family who needed it. Guess who's got the world's biggest target shining brightly on her right now?" She jerked her thumb to Zarya. "I'll scare her plenty less than the horrors of the internet when it comes to the Vasiles."

"But it's still pretty horrifying?" Sam questioned.

"I'm sorry, have you met any of us? The tales of the Vasiles were literally hushed, burned, and tossed away from existence because of what we've done and how we came to be. If the wrong people find out that I'm alive and I know what I do, I am world class _fucked_."

Once Sam and Dean finally took their leave, Zarya was left alone with Katia. For the first time she was able to really look at the girl. Katia couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen when she turned or stopped aging. _How did that work for dhampirs anyway?_ She thought at one point. Her hair had a tint in the light to it the same way Zarya noticed most Vasiles did. Katia's was a deep blue hue not terribly unlike her own indigo. Her dark eyes shifted in color as frequently as her hair would in the light, the irises glinting a hazel brown with the right affect but black as night otherwise. She kept her hair straightened unlike the handful of other Vasile's Zarya had ran into. Straight down the dark hair nearly reached the curve of her lower back. As petite as she was Katia was also gallantly curvy with barely noticeable inhuman features. She had to double take to make sure but Zarya realized the girl's fangs were always at least half extended.

"Alright," the younger looking ravenette sighed before dropping in one of the chairs, "first and foremost, you need to know the truth about dhampirs in the event that you do die and end up turning."

"That's not gonna happen," Zarya argued adamantly without sitting.

"Why? Because Lucifer will send you back every time? Guess what kiddo - I know, it's weird but true right? - there will come a time where the Winchesters are screwing with him, or Remiel, or some other horrendous circumstance where he's not going to be able to make it to you in time."

Slowly, her expression seemed to soften. "You don't think he does it for some douchey reason either, do you?" She asked softly.

Katia shook her head. "At first I did too, just like you and probably everyone else. It's a safe assumption, really. But if there's anyone in this pitiful existence that doesn't believe in being forced into something you're completely against, it's him. And he above all else knows how much you don't want this. It would always be your choice if you wanted to. He was never going to take that away from you."

Hesitantly Zarya slid into a chair across from the young dhampir. "You act like you know the man-child personally."

She snickered a little. "Not really, but I know how he is with you now. To be quite frank I might as well have been watching the world's longest tennis match. If anyone has rusty people skills it is him." She rolled her eyes.

"Rusty? I didn't think he had any. Could have fooled me."

"Yeah, you're still mad." She sighed a little. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I get it entirely. What he did was outrageous and completely unnecessary. He could have done it fifteen other ways but Remiel was still sort of there in the back of his head."

"You sound like you're trying to defend him and say Remiel isn't in the back of his mind anymore. She's all he's given a damn about since the beginning of friggen time."

"Uh, until you came along." She just wanted to reach across the table and slap Zarya on the side of her big, thick, stupid head. "Granted, in the beginning it was nothing but selfishness and the thought of Remiel, but there's always been something enigmatic about you that's worn him down over the years. Why do you think Remiel is as pissed off as she is? That mark, unfortunately scarred into your skin, is like a steel wall against Remiel and she knows. She knows what he did and why he did it. Lucifer found himself a favorite human." She smiled. "Or, half human… still mostly human…" She shrugged.

Zarya just stared at her. She blinked a couple of times, still silent. Eventually she rubbed her face and tried to situate everything she knew accordingly. "Okay, fine; what's it like a day in the life of a dhampir? All I know is that they're half human and half vampire, born thanks to Remiel and Saskia's plots."

"Well, I was born a dhampir." Katia's tone was apathetic and unresolved. Zarya shifted minorly uncomfortably in her chair as she prepared for whatever dark tale could come from the girl. "My mother, Zina… she was still human. Raised by who she would help become Katherine Pierce. She was attacked one night when she was trying to make her way home. She feared it was Klaus Mikaelson, but he turned out to be honestly worse in barely a half an hour. He was a high enough rank to have a kind of magic - fire magic at that, and… and he…"

"I get it… you don't have to continue, Katia. Really."

"I do though." She looked up and met Zarya's eyes. There was a strength in her dark eyes, but also a deep brokenness. "Because I've never told anyone what I know; that I even know this. I need to tell someone, and I would like for that someone to be you."

The hunter took a deep breath before nodding. "Alright, yeah. Go on then."

"That man, he… he restrained my mother by burning her arms badly. Katherine was able to heal her with her blood as best as she could, but it had been well over an hour before Katherine even found her so the skin scarred over. He knew exactly who my mother was and that's why he did what he did. What he didn't know, though, was who I would become. _What_ I would become. Dhampirs when they're in the womb have a strong psychic bond to their mothers. The offspring can see their mother's memories and retain the memories for themselves."

Zarya's eyes widened with realization. "So you knew exactly what happened. You knew who he was from the start. Who Zina was."

Katia nodded. "I knew everything my mother did until the time she handed me off once and for all. Dhampirs are extraordinary creatures, and quite frightening because there isn't a whole lot of confirmed knowledge about them. For me, I got bounced around to about five European orphanages in the first few years of my life because of how quickly I grew. Within the first year of my life I resembled a three year old toddler. By time I actually should have been that toddler I had already aged twice that. It frightened the nuns who ran the places, and only one person ever took me. I was maybe six human years old looking like I was about ten or eleven. It scared everyone else off except Nadia Petrova."

"Wait, Petrova? As in Katherine's original name - Katerina Petrova?"

"The very same. Nadia is her daughter that she was forced to give away because she had a child out of wedlock. My mother gave me away because of the circumstances in which I was conceived and they were running from Klaus. Nadia and I tried relentlessly to track them for a long time. Side note: yes, I did stop aging sometime after what I assumed to be my seventeenth human birthday. We saw it coming when I stopped looking older than I was."

"So you guys must have found out about Klaus killing Zina then, right? And Katherina running off to America to become Katherine Pierce?"

"Yes we did, and I was livid when I found out her bracelet was missing. Every time I got close to retrieving it those damn Mikaelsons did some new stupid shit or Nadia was dragging me away from my own goals like I was a child."

"What's the big deal with those bracelets anyways? Zina's in particular?"

"My mother's and considerable aunt's bracelets were forged by Alina Vasile in an attempt to enhance their strengths and protect them in times of need. Most, if not all, Vasiles have some kind of treasure. The bracelets were a really common theme. Mine is actually a charm bracelet," she held out her wrist and pulled back her sleeve for Zarya to see, "but my mother's was rumored to be able to see through the veil."

Zarya had been looking at the cute little, golden charms dangling off of the chain when she stopped suddenly. " _Zina Vasile is Nova's little sister and her bracelet is rumored to see through the veil and possibly cut a rift into it."_ The words echoed through her brain over and over again. Exactly how much truth had been behind them? Was that how Zina escaped the Other Side?

"What kind of veil though?" The thought had struck her suddenly when one single, silver charm shimmered in her eyes. "Just to the Other Side, or is there more than that?"

Katia half smiled and took her arm back. "You see, Zarya, _that_ is why the people who have have have taken such an interest in you. To be honest, I've always wanted to tell _someone_ this; Purgatory, Hell, the Other Side, and I don't even know what else are connected to one another. Like literally if you know where to look. It's essentially a giant maze."

 _A rift,_ Zarya thought deeply. _A rift between realms. An easier doorway in and out. In the end everything is connected…_

"Why have you decided that I'm the one who's good enough to tell all of this to? Why not anyone else through the decades or any of the other Vasiles in hiding for knowing a fraction of what you do?"

"Have you not met most of them? You know Nova which should be enough quite frankly. You're the only one I know I can actually trust. And if you must know, I have seen it. I don't know the context or situation, but you come through for me. That's all I need to know. If Remiel gets control of us it's game over but at least if you-"

"I am not a leader," she hastily cut off the dhampir. "I'm a fighter… a hunter. I wanted to know who I really was but I was expecting an under the table adoption maybe because of the mafia or… or a gang at best. Not a clan of supernatural creatures created by a fifth and possibly deranged archangel. Believe me when I say I will find a way to end that bitch's life once and for all, but beyond that… I don't want control of the Vasiles. I don't want some title and this little army ready to kill at my command. I'm just here to slay monsters no matter what they are so long as they're bad guys."

It was almost astonishing how well Katia hid her actual thoughts and emotions. She had perfected her poker face through the years because inside she was practically screaming. She had met Nessa on a small handful of occasions who had actually been able to speak to Lucifer for some time; just based on what she was told and discovered for herself she could just imagine Zarya being a much more tame and level headed version of Lucifer rather than Remiel. Her personality seemed to collide so perfectly with his. Now, she did appreciate Dean Winchester as a human being and all he had done for Zarya, but they just didn't _sound_ right together. Truthfully, she hadn't wanted to do it, but she needed the full story.

"Can I get a bit personal with you for a moment, Zarya?" She held out her hand to the ravenette opposite herself. "All you have to do is take my hand and I'll know everything you know, but you are welcomed to decline. Like I said, it is quite personal."

"You can still do it then? Skin contact with a person tells you everything in their head corner to corner?" Katia nodded. "Wouldn't that jam up your head after a while though? Knowing so many people's lives start to the current you get alongside your own life?"

She smiled a little and allowed her hand to rest on the table. "When I was a child I was quite the handful because it did overwhelm me. I was always being passed off and taken by the hand by several people. It took me a long time to be able to wade through it all and find the key things I need."

"What are you trying to find in me then?"

 _Such a clever girl,_ Katia thought with a bit of pride. _You truly will best all of us in the end, won't you Zarya?_

"I want to better understand the things you do and why you do them. Word does get around about the Winchesters' recklessness yet ability to save lives. I'd like to understand your inner chaos if you would allow me to. It also proves useful in making hasty, life determining decisions."

It was a hesitant decision, but Zarya ended up taking her hand. She could feel the connection as soon as their skin touched. Only a brief few seconds was all it took, but in that short span time ran differently for Katia. It slowed down just long enough for her to essentially absorb a copy of everything in Zarya's head. Every memory, every feeling, _everything._ And for the first time in her life, it caused Katia to feel something in her chest.

" _Please don't cry, Rya."_

" _Kind of like the little sister we never got."_

" _I have nothing left. Angels, demons, monsters, prophecies, I don't even know who I am anymore! What better place for me in the world then as a hunter?"_

" _See? Noodle arms can't even brush through your own hair, Zare."_

" _Child, Lucifer has even me on a leash of sorts currently. It is in your blood to fight; it has been for centuries. You are not alone in this world."_

" _Go ahead, Rya, shoot me. Shoot your best friend's body. See what it does for you. He's already dead and that bullet won't do much but tickle me."_

" _I want to help the Winchesters, and whatever I might be able to save of my best friend but I just want to give up so fucking badly… I don't want it to be like this, to feel like this."_

" _Hey ass butt!"_

" _Cas had said you might feel a little off without Lucifer's presence on Earth. We're just trying to make sure you don't get sick or anything again."_

" _You hear me, you bastard?! You win! I give up! I do need you, Lucifer!"_

" _I will never leave you, Rya."_

" _I miss you. Like, I actually miss you. The real, really annoying, you always over my shoulder."_

" _Dean called me. I missed it by a second because he hung up before I could."_

" _She happens to be a weirdo who will drink absinthe straight if given a bottle."_

" _Whatever the world has become, Zare, we'll fix it."_

" _I wanted to repay you with something, so I remembered the girl's name - it was Katia Vasile."_

" _Have you ever had an eye exam in your life, princess? Or was I the one hallucinating all the bloody disgusting PDA between the two of you? Including, but not limited to, your lovely serenade, darling."_

" _I can't let Sammy get hurt or worry that he might. I know you can handle yourself beside me, Zare. I need you. If I can trust you as backup. Can I, Zare?"_

" _Simple - she's mine. End of story."_

" _They aren't coming to save you this time, Rya."_

" _I will never stop coming for you, Rya. Dean Winchester was quite wrong. You, are mine, Rya. I'll tear your sweet Dean's heart from his chest if he dares think otherwise."_

" _Are you serious right now, Zare? You think that crap means anything? 'Let me go'. Gimme a break. Name one time Sammy and I ever listened to anything of the sort. You're family Zare. Get used to it. Whatever mess you get yourself in, we're dragging you right back."_

" _You know damn well what came back was not the Dean Winchester you knew. The Dean that you knew is dead, Rya. Every shot you took, every touch, every time you slept with him, that was not your precious Dean."_

" _We'll take care of it, Zare. One way or another we always do. We'll get through this. We always do."_

" _Because… because all I had left was you. I couldn't protect Sarah, I couldn't protect you anymore. I knew I couldn't as soon as he came to me. I knew it was over. He was the one who saved you in that car accident. He brought you back to life. He could do what I couldn't anymore."_

" _I know that somehow, you will hear me. And when you do, I'll be ready this time, Lucifer."_

Katia had been bombarded first and foremost, forcibly wading through Zarya's compelled memories and her real ones. The compelled memories were much weaker than her real ones, Dean and Lucifer's voices reverberating the loudest. She could feel Zarya's grieving over Nick and her recent acceptance of it. Dean's death had shredded through the girl barely any differently than Lucifer returning to Hell. There was a mark from the both of them etched onto her soul. Both halves of Zarya bonded to someone and it had been so intensely that it made Katia's dull heartbeat a bit louder. There was passion, and fire, and fight on both paths. Zarya truly was stuck in the middle and not even Katia knew what to do about it.

"Your face just went from the world's best poker face to what should only be mildly concerning if not for the previous poker face," Zarya commented with some half-hearted humor.

The young dhampir took a breath, unable to meet Zarya's eye yet. "You… you have undoubtedly been through so much in such a short life span. You have the most resolve of all of us because, in truth, you have the most to lose." She opened her mouth to speak again, her dark eyes finally looking up to meet Zarya's. The second their gazes met the both of them froze.

Zarya saw Nova. At first it was as if it were through Nova's eyes, then it changed and Zarya was staring down at the Romanian. It was too difficult for her to see much through the darkness. Nova was chained down and surrounded by purple flowers. She was weak and angry. Katia, however, was getting a glimpse into a possible future. It came to her in barely readable glimpses that she had to put together and decipher.

" _Well, consider me impressed. Little Zarya Vasile rises above them all. What is this stunt then? A vacation away from the Winchesters' prying eyes because you know I'll let much more slide?"_

" _No. Actually, I've had enough for right now."_

" _Enough of what?"_

" _Everything, I guess."_

" _I've lived a long time. I've seen plenty of mistakes made over time. Try to think practically once and a while, Rya."_

" _This is okay. This is nice."_

" _So you're not… you don't…"_

" _I forgive you."_

" _I just need you to trust me."_

" _I'm here and not there, aren't I?"_

" _Because there is no saving of Zarya. There's nothing there to save. This was of her own convoluted decision."_

" _We're still going through with this?"_

" _All I have done is for you, Rya. Isn't it what everybody wants at some point? A family?"_

" _We're doing this, Sammy. Because either she's coming home with us willingly or not, or this madness ends tonight."_

" _I can't be what other people want me to be anymore. What you twits want me to be! This is who I am. Stop being so angry and let me go, Dean."_

" _I'm mad because I love you, Zare!"_

" _Then maybe that's the problem."_

Was that even Zarya? It barely sounded like her at all. What events would lead to such an outcome? Katia's mind began thinking in overdrive until the girl across from her got her attention at last. "I was concerned about seeing Nova chained in a ditch until I got a look at your face. What's got you so unnerved?"

She shook her head a few times and exhaled. "A mere possibility. You have an actual connection to Nova. What _exactly_ did you see?"

"Darkness, so it was a bit difficult on my part. But she was in the bottom of some kind of pit or ditch, chained to the bottom, and surrounded by purple flowers. She was weak and pissed off."

Katia's mind immediately flashed to Saskia. The wicked woman had more tricks up her sleeve than she'd been able to count. It wouldn't surprise Katia if Saskia was using Nova for something. She met Zarya's eye and for the first time the young hunter could actually see something other than a stone wall in her eyes. "It's your call," she started off slowly, "but we might be able to do something to help her if you decide."

There was no hesitation. "What do we need to do?"


	25. Fate is the Game We're Playing

25: Fate is the Game We're Playing.

"The Zodiac?" Dean asked with light humor in his voice. He had grown used to ignoring the light burn on his forearm.

"Seven victims," Sam answered confidently from the passenger's seat of the Impala.

"Dahmer?"

"Seventeen."

"That's some freaky stuff, man. It's a whole new side of you."

"It's called true crime, Dean," the younger brother chuckled. "It's a hobby that Clarke and I took interest in."

Dean took his eyes off the road for a brief second. "Zare too? You're kidding me. No. Bass fishing, needlepoint; those are hobbies. She plays the drums - that's a hobby! Collecting serial killer stats? That's… that's an illness."

"Believe it or not, she knows more than I do." He clapped his brother's shoulder as they turned into a prison's entrance. "Get your badge."

* * *

"Oh come on," Zarya groaned with her hands clutched tightly to the arm of a metal chair. "Charles Manson had a whole cult just by talking to people."

Katia's nose scrunched up a bit. She stood behind the hunter with her hands reaching for the girl's skull again. "Yes, it's quite astonishing what humans can convince other humans to accomplish but that's not quite the position we're in, now is it? Your connection to Nova is straight through your butchered up brains. I can't just compel you into telling me where she is because you don't actually know."

She leaned her head back to look up at Katia for a moment. "So dhampirs can use compulsion too?"

The dhampir gently pushed Zarya's head back straight forward. "Yes, we can as far as I know. So don't make me have to try and compel you to sit still."

"You have someone digging around psychically in your noggin looking for some hidden pathway to a distant vampire relative with her humanity off and tell me how it feels then. Besides," she readjusted herself in her seat to prepare, "the next vampire who tries to compel me gets their head knocked off their shoulders."

Katia shook her head before putting her hands back onto Zarya's head. Her eyes glowed bright pink as she fought relentlessly through Zarya's head to find Nova. Zarya tried her damndest to not writhe but it was like lightning striking all over her head and brain especially. She was about to yank away again from the pain when her eyes lit up bright magenta.

* * *

Sam and Dean walked up behind the warden as he tried again to inspect Tommy Tolliver's cell. "Warden Skieff?"

The younger brother offered his hand when the warden stood. "Inspectors Moore and Ronaldo. We spoke on the phone?"

"Yeah," the aging man nodded. "Welcome to death row. Have a look. But good luck finding anything out of TDJC compliance." He shook his head a little before walking out of the cell. The boys followed suit.

"So," Sam cleared his throat, "why don't you tell me what happened?"

The warden assured them everything had been running smoothly as always. His cell was locked no security breach, no guard misconduct, nothing. Skieff showed them the security monitors right before Tolliver vanished. For a quick moment, everything went black. They almost mistook it for a brownout, if it wasn't for a strange man walking down the hall.

"Is it one of the guards?" Sam questioned.

"Nope. I don't know who he is, how he got in, or how he and tolliver got out."

"Can you zoom in on that?" came Dean extra curiously. He had been slowly leaning closer and closer to the screens.

"Can and have. Too dark to make out much of anything."

"Do it again. Freeze it. Blow it up."

While it was difficult for the warden and guard to make out, the Winchesters knew exactly who they had been looking at on the screens. Dean's hand ghosted over his forearm briefly as he stared at Cain on the monitor. His mind flashed quickly to Zarya.

* * *

Nova had been missing almost two weeks already. Ten days submerged in darkness with the one plant that actually made her weak. Zarya could feel the physical toll on the vampire's body, but also the rage that screamed in her head. It had been Saskia to trap her as they were nearing Mystic Falls returning home; Nova screamed furiously in her native tongue at Saskia's name. A couple of times in the beginning Nova had tried to claw her way out to no avail. They were about to lose the connection surrounded by dark when Nova was dragged from her hole suddenly.

The Romanian was dragged by her shackles across a woodsy area. She had been far too weakened to even struggle anymore. Nova could barely see which made the vision difficult for Katia and Zarya, but they could make out Saskia fighting her damndest to haul Nova along. The older creature was almost dessicating. Saskia was falling apart. She dragged Nova to an unknown location where a younger looking middle aged man met her. Zarya could make out a sweater vest and white coat. Two of her least favorite articles of clothing.

"Nova Vasile for your dhampir research." Saskia's voice echoed quietly and raspy.

The man took a vial out of his pocket and held it up. "I should warn you though, I've noticed it's a very sporadic and rambunctious gene."

"Are you trying to say it will not work?" She hissed.

"I suppose it depends on how desperate you are to survive."

Saskia actually hesitated for the quickest of seconds before tossing Nova to the man's feet. "Let Augustine see if they can find out what is so special about this beast. She is not my problem anymore."

He chuckled rather darkly before handing off the vial to Saskia. "Whitmore House thanks you again for your generous donation to science, Miss Vasile. See you again."

Both Zarya and Katia gasped from the jolt of being thrust back into their own bodies and minds. "Whitmore!" Zarya exclaimed as she jumped out of the chair. "That- that's the stupid college in Virginia! The one my parents met at and Elena and Caroline are at _right this fucking second_!"

"Ohh, Zarya, I don't think our mystery ends there. I've got a few theories if you're willing to go for a drive."

"You mean, instead of staying holed up in this bunker we go on our own hunting trip per se to Virginia and likely severely tick off Sam and Dean?" The dhampir shrugged with uncertainty and Zarya grinned. She was so focused on the sudden excitement that she barely noticed the mild burning on her forearm. "I've already got my bag ready to go. Let's hit the road."

* * *

"So, what? Cain's got a vendetta against the entire family?" Dean asked with skepticism.

"Maybe," his brother shrugged. He nodded towards the phone when it began to vibrate.

"It's Cas. Hey, where you at?"

"Illinois," the angel replied matter of factly.

"We got a lead - Cain abducted a Texas death row inmate named Tommy Tolliver."

Cas was silent for a moment before grimly responding, "He's dead."

"What? How do you know?"

Out in Illinois, Castiel was in a woodsy area holding a white sneaker with the letters TDJC on the bottom. "Call it an educated guess. Cain has been very busy." Surrounding him in the clearing was dozens of freshly dug and filled graves. "I think you should call Zarya. I will call you back."

They didn't hesitate at the statement. Dean immediately ended the call and dialed Zarya's number. The first call rang until it went to voicemail so he quickly redialed. Both brothers exhaled a small sigh of relief when she answered at last. "Sorry boys, couldn't reach my phone 'cause it fell. What's the 911?"

In Illinois, Cas was staring right at Cain who greeted him calmly. "Hello, Castiel."

"What have you done?" the angel snapped back quickly.

"These bodies? Just cleaning up a mess I made a long time ago."

"Cain snatched up a death row inmate named Tommy Tolliver after presumably doing the same to his dad about a week ago," Sam answered the ravenette.

"So why are you guys clearly doing a wellness check? Am I next on Cain's hit list or something?" She laughed until their silence caused her to awkwardly stop. "Wh-what?"

"With Abaddon's army gunning for me," Cain explained as he walked around the multiple corpses, "I had to take up arms again. And I liked how it felt."

"Those were demons. These…" Cas bent down and picked up a teddy bear caked in blood and mud.

"Humans," the Knight shrugged. "Eh. The Mark thirsts for all kinds. I'm sure Dean and Zarya know that by now."

"This is a massacre."

"Yes. And soon it'll be a genocide. My children, my whole poisoned issue. A lot of them out there right now… killers, fighters, thieves; some more peaceful than others, but they still carry it - the disease."

"Listen," came Dean, "we're not sure what Cain's endgame is just yet. Cas is on a lead but he wanted us to check on you first." That was when he heard an engine rev over the line. "Are you… are you driving, right now?"

"Uh, yeah, kind of. I got wind of a case that sounded pretty urgent so I'm going to go check it out. No, don't worry it's not another one of Cain's victims."

"How sure are you about that? Where the hell are you going?"

"Mm… Virginia."

"Which children are you referring to?" Cas pressed. "The humans who lust after evil, or your actual children, Cain? Cassia and Daciana Vasile. Your blood daughters with Saskia Vasile."

Cain chuckled a little. "Ah, you don't even know the half of Saskia and our daughters' tales."

"I swear to God, Zare, if you go to freakin' Mystic Falls-"

"I'm not going to Mystic Falls!" She cut him off petulantly. "I promise. At least, I shouldn't have to… not totally sure yet. But it's not my initial destination." She shrugged.

"Are you at least meeting up with another hunter down there?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Well… I uh, I've got Katia with me for this one."

"Yeah, because that doesn't sound completely messed up. So help me, Zare, turn that car around or we'll be meeting you in Virginia."

"What's the case, Clarke?" Sam tried to rationalize.

Zarya groaned internally. She was at least already out of Kansas, but they would be coming from Texas so they could easily cut her off with Dean's driving. That was when the gears in her noggin started turning faster and connecting things. "Shit, I think this might actually tie to Cain after all…" She sighed. "Nova has been kidnapped by a withering and desperate Saskia who traded her to some creepy doctor at Whitmore for a vial of dhampir something."

The brothers were astonishingly silent, their jaws partially dropped as they sat in the Impala. Dean shook his head first. "We are _not_ getting in the middle of their bullshit, Zare. Turn it around. If you want a case so damn bad come meet us in Texas."

Her hand tightened around the leather wheel of the de Ville. Katia sat still in the passenger's seat, watching Zarya out of the corner of her eyes. A sign passed by reading how many miles out of their current state and how many turning back to Kansas. For the quickest second Zarya considered whipping the wheel but instead her boot clad foot pressed down on the gas pedal. Both Winchesters heard the defiant rev of the car's engine. Curiously, Katia finally looked over and found the fire everyone said burned so brightly in Zarya Vasile's eyes.

"I'm sorry boys," she told them adamantly. "Humanity or not, Nova came when asked for me. Whatever is going on is coming around full circle so let me figure out the truth on my end and you focus on yours. We are not at the top of the tier yet, guys. We're only at Cain and Saskia. And I've got enough reason to kick that psycho bitch's ass. See you soon, I'm sure." Her lips flicked into a smirk before she shut off the device and tossed it out her window. Admittedly she could feel the Mark trying so desperately to scorch her skin.

* * *

All Sam and Dean could do for a solid moment was gape at the phone that once had Zarya's contact ID on the screen. Castiel's name appeared suddenly, finally breaking them from their stupor. "Is Zarya safe?" He asked quickly.

"Should she be in immediate danger?" Sam responded first.

At first the angel was silent, but it didn't last long. "It was a massacre. Cain is murdering again with a list. And he knows Zarya has the Mark mirrored onto her just as Saskia did."

"Zare and I… we're on that list, aren't we?" came Dean with a dark fire sparking in his eyes.

"And Saskia, for obvious reasons. But it doesn't stop there. The entire Vasile family is comprised of murdering monsters that still walk this Earth and were a product of Saskia. His own daughter was part of the Original bloodline."

"Is, Cas," Sam hastily corrected. "Daciana is very much awake and alive. Do you think she knows about Cain yet?" He directed to his brother.

Dean gave a small huff with his eyes fixated on the road and pressed the gas harder, revving up the engine of the old Impala. "I think we can't leave anything to chance with these freakin' Vasiles anymore."


	26. Please Forgive Me for What I'm About to

**A/N:** I'm back! I wrote a fuck ton while I was in the hospital (did I mention I was in the hospital? I guess I'll get to that loll) but the public wifi for some reason wouldn't let me post chapters. Even right now I have to use FireFox because apparently my Chrome hates me and refuses to let me update it! Hooray!

So, hospital. Welp I was pregnant and at 27 weeks my water spontaneously broke. I had to spend seven weeks in the hospital before they could safely induce me at 34 weeks. It _sucked_ being away from home, but now my husband and I have the cutest little boy and we are awaiting him to come home from the NICU. All that's left for him to accomplish is to take all feedings by bottle and he's getting better at that every day!

Now today I finally have some time to myself (been visiting the NICU and cleaning and preparing all our baby stuff) so get ready for an onslaught of chapters!

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

26: Please Forgive Me for What I'm About to Do.

Katia watched her human descendant writhe and toss and turn in the motel bed for just over an hour. She contemplated taking just a peek into Zarya's head to see what had her so flustered and distraught but she swore to never invade someone's privacy like that again. As she sat at the table with Zarya's laptop and a cup of coffee from the little coffee maker in the room, she slid something from her own small, black bag - a gold locket. She traced her thumb over the delicate engraved pattern in the metal before clicking it open. Two very old photos were stuck to each half inside; a black and white of Zina on the left, and Nova on the right. Katia closed the locket and hid it back away just before Zarya shot up in the bed with sweat running down her forehead.

"Are you alright?" the dhampir asked quietly and curtly before getting Zarya a bottle of water from the mini fridge.

She gratefully drank half of the bottle in one go before shaking her head and swinging her legs off the side of the bed. "Nope. And I am absolutely not going back to sleep either. Let's get some caffeine and hit the road. How far are we from Whitmore?"

 _Must have been a pretty bad dream then,_ Katia thought as she packed up the laptop. "If we head straight there within the hour we should make it just after dawn. You barely slept an hour and a half, Zarya. Are you certain you're ready for this?"

Zarya chuckled humorlessly. Her hand was scratching and rubbing her forearm whether she noticed or not. Blue eyes haunted her relentlessly even while awake. "I need to keep my mind off whatever the fuck my mind just tried terrorizing me with so yes I am ready to go. There's a gas station about a mile back so I can fill the tank and grab like five Monsters and or Venoms."

Katia's nose scrunched up. "I've tried both of those drinks and they are awful. Surely you're rotting your insides."

"Yeah, well, I do with just about everything else so fuck it, right?" She half grinned and they walked out the door.

At first it wasn't terribly difficult for Zarya to block out the unyielding dream. They made it to the gas station, stocked up on snacks and energy drinks, and hit the road towards Virginia. As her mind started to vacantly wander, Zarya drifted back to her dream. Katia could tell something had started to bother her but waited patiently for when the time was right. Zarya would twitch periodically, as if she heard something she didn't quite like.

" _Dean Winchester shot a gun called the Colt in an attempt to kill me. All it did was kill the human soul inside."_

" _How can I live any sort of a normal life knowing this kind of shit exists? Knowing that there's some deep, dark family secret that could get me killed? Knowing that I can't hold a relationship with a decent human being because I'm meant to be with the fucking archangel Lucifer? Knowing that he's trapped in Hell like some caged animal when he should at least have his dumb ass on the throne? What the fuck is normal about any of that? I certainly can't go back to Pike Creek or the diner."_

" _This is where the Winchesters want to put me again. Away from you. I can't protect you from here, Rya. I need you as much as you need me."_

" _Nick could have had you at any point in your lives and he was foolish enough not to because he was human. Too weak to be able to protect you, handle you. That's where he and I differ."_

" _Please don't cry, Rya."_

" _Lucifer will never rest until he finds her. He will seek her out until the end of time. Whether she says yes or no to Remiel, I honestly don't think he bloody gives a damn anymore. And he'll enjoy ripping her from you the most."_

" _They aren't coming to save you this time, Rya."_

" _Dean Winchester was quite wrong. You are_ mine _, Rya. I'll tear your sweet Dean's heart from his chest if he dares think otherwise."_

"Talk to me, Katia," Zarya spoke quickly to break the silence in the car. "About anything, I don't give a damn. Just keep my mind occupied please."

"Okay," the dhampir nodded slowly, glancing at the driver from the corner of her dark eyes. "Do you have a plan for rescuing Nova in mind?" When Zarya failed to answer but instead her lips started pulling towards a guilty grin, Katia sweatdropped. "You don't… Alright." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "We are literally a few hours away, Z; what the hell did you hope to do - bust into the campus with guns blazing and demand to know about where they're hiding a vampire they bought from a nephilim-vamp?"

"Well, no, of course not," she scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "It's still a human oriented school. Or at least it's supposed to be." She rolled her eyes. "We can't just pop in as FBI like Sam and Dean usually do 'cause everytime they do there's already a body. We're trying to rescue an undead one." She paused and blew some of her hair out of her face with a realization. "Wow, I'm a pretty shitty hunter."

Katia laughed lightly. "I guess all the Vasiles needed to tip this Jenga tower over was you."

"Pfftt, right? Everyone had their own rocks to hide under before I apparently got cast as a main character."

"All you can do now is make the best of what you're handed. Unfortunately the Vasiles are notorious for being dealt the worst hands and making horrendous decisions with them."

Somehow, someway, for some reason that sparked the most insane idea in Zarya's head. She slammed the breaks before running a red light and turned to her passenger with big eyes. "That's it!"

Katia blinked a couple of times. "Wh-what exactly?" _Her mind really does work in strange ways, doesn't it?_

The light turned green and the de Ville was off again. "Looks at us - you and me."

"What about us?"

"Vasiles share similar traits, don't we? Crazy, dark hair, some kind of dark or vibrant eyes that makes people do a double take, the way our faces and bodies are shaped; it's a slightly more diverse line than doppelgangers."

The dhampir's onyx eyes were widening with each bit of Zarya's tangent as she caught on. "You're insane."

"Hear me out-"

"I can put the pieces together, Zarya. It's far too outrageous because Nova has been a vampire since 1866. Her humanity has been off for an already extended period of time, she has lost herself to addiction and murder, and - no offense - but anyone can see that you're human and she's not. She makes it so painfully obvious I don't understand how no one catches on."

"I can make myself look like her, you can trust me on that. Some flashy clothes, and fancy makeup I can manage."

"And the fact that you're human? Nova Vasile does not carry around a revolver and she has super speed _and_ strength. I'm also… not certain you could walk well in heels…"

Zarya sweatdropped that time. "Do you have a better plan then, oh psychic one? Because so help me I will go in this blind just to blow some steam."

Katia caught her that time rubbing her arm for a moment. She watched Zarya realize she had been doing it and force herself to stop. They were silent for a couple of minutes while the dhampir thought, but she didn't want to leave Zarya in her mind for too long nor could she think of literally any other plan. She heaved a sigh and took out her phone. "Alright, fine, but we're going to need some extra help on this if you're going to pull off being Nova Vasile to rescue Nova Vasile."

"Who's gonna help me be a vamp without actually turning into a vamp?"

"Someone who owes me a favor."

* * *

"Okay, so what? We track him down to Ohio and then what?" Sam chastised as he and Dean walked into the bunker.

"I'll do what I have to do," Dean replied curtly as he took a shotgun off the wall from his bedroom. "I'll kill Cain."

"You'll _what_?"

"When he gave me the Mark, Cain said that this day would come. That after I killed Abaddon I would have to come and put him down."

"Great. So you're taking orders from a madman."

"No, he wasn't mad then. Cain resisted the Mark for a long time. Then I came kicking up trouble about the blade. I sent him down this path. This is on me."

As Sam watched his brother pack furiously he realized the truth to Dean's words. "You mean you feel guilty for sending _Zarya_ down this path and you're hoping killing Cain will at least save her. That doesn't mean you have to be the one to go after him."

Dean stopped suddenly with his back to his brother. He didn't even hear Castiel walk up and join them. He acknowledged that Zarya's room was directly next door and empty once again. "Yes it does," they just barely heard his voice crack. "And there's only one thing that can kill him."

"Dean…" Cas spoke softly with concern.

Sam looked between the two of them for a moment before remaining back on his brother. "Dean, wielding the Blade against Cain himself… win or lose, you may never come back from that fight."

He put his hand over the Mark that resided at the hem of his rolled up flannel sleeve. "I know."

The hazel eyed brother couldn't actually believe what he was hearing. "Have you even thought about Zarya?" He exclaimed suddenly. "You really want her to lose you _again_? She didn't even give a damn that you had returned as a Knight of Hell just because she missed you! I mean… did you see or hear her before you were dead-dead? Because I did, Dean. I saw the sheer agony in her eyes and, to be honest, the wail she let out? It still haunts me to this day. I have never seen heartbreak like that until Zarya lost you. Go ahead, though. See how she reacts this time."

Dean was seemingly calm and too quiet for too long after listening to his brother's rant. Finally something snapped in him too and he spun around with a deeply rooted pain in his olive eyes. "I need to do this _for_ Zare, Sammy! When I was a demon, I was the one who pulled her right into the darkness! Me! I got her wasted all day every day, we slept together, and when the Mark started to present itself on her I made her fucking feed it. I made her kill. I made her take the Mark from Saskia. And I'm gonna be the one to keep her alive, human, and nothing like her psychotic, monster ancestors."

Sam stared unwaveringly at his brother. "Then stop trying to get rid of yourself for her sake and start fighting to rise above everything like she does every damn day. She looks to us with the hope that we'll do something good for this world. Look to her with the hope to overcome everything and still make it out on top."

Dean wanted to do just that. He really, truly did. Instead, a dry scoff escaped his lips. "Hope… isn't that what got everyone into this mess to begin with?"

* * *

Zarya and Katia met her at an abandoned manor in a small town just entering Virginia on the border of Kentucky. Zarya stared up at her with her jaw slightly agape; was she taller than Sam? Was it just the heels? Did all Vasiles wear heels? Slyly and slowly her eyes wandered down to the dhampir's feet beside her. She resisted the urge to let out a relieved sigh when she saw Katia wearing ballet flats. Just when she thought she knew enough about the Vasiles some other asinine secrets came out from under their rocks.

"No," the Russian accented Sofia Vasile answered finally and icily. As much as she longed to mouth off to Sofia, Zarya opted to keep her mouth shut that time. The woman was who the hell knew how old, ridiculously tall, and had the scariest _blue_ eyes she was perfectly content walking away from.

"Terribly sorry, _bratovchedka_ **(cousin)** ," Katia replied as curtly as she always seemed to, "but you still owe me for that thing that one time…" She smiled sweetly up at the elder creature with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Then come to me with a request I care about. I would much prefer to watch this faulted kingdom fall."

"Then it's gonna take you down too," Zarya finally snapped back. "I have to do this, Sofia. Please."

She looked Zarya up and down for the first time since the two arrived. She had heard mutterings about little human Zarya Vasile running amuck hunting and getting caught up by Lucifer. The girl had more fight than even the rumors gave her. "You have guts, kid. I can see that. And do you want to know where those guts are going to end up? Probably wrapped around your corpse and strung up to a tree. I have seen three and a half centuries of lies, murder, and secrets. There is only one God, and his name is Death. That is all we have to look forward to."

Zarya's jaw set as her fists balled. Her blood was starting to boil. Why was everyone with immortality so fucking afraid to fight? Why did they all turn tail and hide in the darkness? "Well there's only one thing I've ever said to Death and I'll continue saying: _not today._ " Sofia's eyes actually widened. "You've got three and a half centuries under your belt yet here you are rolling over with your tail between your legs like some scared animal! If you've got some kind of expertise then we would gratefully like for you to use it, dammit!"

Katia's lips had pulled back with uncertainty about how the elder vampire would react to Zarya's boldness. Her eyes darted between the two cautiously. Sofia's brows raised curiously before she crossed her arms over her chest. Her foot tapped a couple of times as she stared the young hunter down, expecting her to back down and retreat. She couldn't say she was terribly surprised that Zarya was unyielding. _You attracted the devil to yourself quite easily then kid,_ she thought.

"Fine," she huffed at last. "Then do not bore me and listen to each word I tell you as if it was gospel or this will not work. Can you manage that with your recklessness?"

Zarya grinned and cracked her knuckles. "My recklessness should be what keeps you entertained."

"You're positive you want to do this?" Katia asked as they sat the hunter in a chair. Sofia pulled her hair over the back of the chair and began finger brushing it with her long nails.

She puffed out her cheeks then let out the air held in them before nodding. "Doppelganger me into Nova freakin' Vasile."

"The physical attributes are simple enough," Sofia explained, "but the supernatural ones are going to require finesse."

"What kind of finesse?" Katia inquired.

"Well, you have to make these people believe it's Nova Vasile freed from her restraints coming for retribution, yes? That will require some rather believable, albeit questionable, techniques."

"Where's the point, Sofia?" Zarya chimed in with mild concern.

"I'm going to have to seemingly turn you for a little while."

Both Zarya and Katia's eyes widened.

* * *

With the First Blade nearly in hand and the home of Austin Reynolds growing nearer and nearer, Sam sent a longingly hopeful text to a number that had been Katia's at least at one point. He then turned to his brother. "Do you think Zarya is alright with Katia?"

Dean was quiet for a long minute before answering. "We both know that Zare is fully capable of kicking ass when she needs to."

"Yeah, but what happens when she can't and we aren't there? We only got lucky when Remiel and Lucifer were attacking her mind because of Cas and Hannah. We never would have made it to her in time."

"Are you trying to strike up this conversation because you feel some type of way or because you're still trying to convince me not to take on Cain?"

"Can you just think for two minutes, Dean? Everything Zarya has survived, endured, and fought was because of and _for_ us. When she lost her way without Nick, what did she turn to? Hunting. Why? Because she saw us doing it. Because she knows the truth of the world. Because she doesn't want us to die alone out there."

"Oh yeah? She say all that to you?"

"You know exactly what she said to me, don't you?"

Dean stiffened suddenly, his grip on the wheel tightening. Not once did he look over at his brother. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"After we rescued Clarke from Lucifer, and I was talking to her in the kitchen in the middle of the night, her back was to the doorway. Not mine. I saw your shadow get closer then duck to the side before your footsteps went back to your room. I know you heard her tell me that she fell in love with you."

The Impala parked on the side of a quiet road. Most of the few homes were ranch houses with decent sized fields and barns. The Reynolds in particular had a large barn on their property. Still Dean did not look to his brother. His green eyes remained fixated on the dark street, one hand still on the wheel before he shut off the engine. "As much as I'm sure we would all love for it to work out like some sappy romance movie, it's just not Sammy. She knows it, I know it; it's time for you to realize it too. We just do what we have to do 'till we end up dead."


	27. It's All Gone Wrong

27: It's All Gone Wrong.

Given the circumstances and time frame, Sofia and Katia made Zarya look like Nova with ease. Sofia cut the extra five or so inches off of the girl's hair to bring it to her shoulders just as Nova had recently been forced to do. Katia worked on her makeup in the meantime shaping her brows to precision, and contouring her face to seem a little sharper. Before she could do Nova's signature eye makeup on the human hunter, Sofia stopped Katia; she had to alter Zarya's eyes. Anyone who knew Nova enough feared having to look into her piercing emerald eyes. Zarya's were just as human as she was, muddled with the blue of her father's eyes. To change eye color was at least a simple spell anyone could muster.

"Don't mind my probably offensive question," Zarya began while Katia extended her lashes with some serious mascara, "but how exactly can the majority of Vasiles clearly do some kind of magic? I thought it was an abomination of nature."

"It is," Sofia drawled while curling her hair. A knock sounded on the door before it opened and a young looking man in a wrinkled suit walked in with a duffel bag. "I assume then that Katia told you nothing about who and what I am then."

Zarya's eyes slid onto the dhampir shuffling through makeup. "Uh, nope."

"Hm. Good then." She smirked when the girl in the chair frowned and sweatdropped. "Just know that I am fully capable of and good at what I do. How I ended up here is nothing for you to concern yourself with, kid." Her hand shot out and grabbed Katia's wrist quickly. "Absolutely not that shade. Are you mental?"

The dhampir had a tube of lipstick in her hand and looked up to Sofia with a brow raised. "Why not? It's red lipstick."

Sofia rolled her eyes. "It's Ruby Woo by MAC. Do you honestly believe Nova Vasile wears MAC? Or in Ruby Woo? Who do you think she is, Abaddon?"

The man snickered before setting the bag beside Sofia and leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. "Yeah, Miss Nova is more of a Lancôme kind of woman."

"Dark Fiction precisely," Sofia added.

Katia and Zarya looked at them with astonishment. "I'm the psychic but you two know her exact lipstick?" The dhampir commented.

"And who the hell are you?" Zarya directed at the stranger.

"My apologies, Miss Zarya," he smirked before giving her a polite bow. When he stood back up and his eyes were black Sofia had to physically hold Zarya to the chair. "My name is Bacchus. I've always tried to assist the Vasile women in any way I could."

"This shit keeps getting weirder and weirder…" She muttered before shifting uncomfortably in the chair.

Sofia ignored her and turned back to the lipstick. "The Lime Crime Velvetines in Bloodmoon will suffice. I have no need to even compel myself a $22 tube of lipstick. That woman is deranged."

Once the hair and makeup was settled, Katia and Sofia began digging through the duffel bag Bacchus brought. At first Zarya thought it was just clothes that looked similar to Nova's wardrobe but Katia confirmed that they were in fact some of Nova's clothes by the scent. They assured the hunter Nova had _many_ articles of clothes across the globe and that the outfit had to have Nova's scent for insurance. When they started to bicker over what matched Zarya swiped the bag from both of them and decided on her own Nova looking outfit. The trio waiting for her to change gave a small applause when she emerged. Zarya had decided on tight black jeans with a faux leathery look to them, a dark maroon blouse that's sleeves hung off her shoulders elegantly, studded black heels, and of course a black leather jacket.

"I'll never understand how she gets away with always wearing red." She shook her head at the shirt. "My eyes are only half green looking and I always feel like Christmas."

"Is she going to not sound like an American human after your spell?" Bacchus questioned tactlessly.

"Okay, rude," the hunter quipped with a hand on her hip.

"He is correct," Sofia told her. "Nova hails from Romania. As watered down as her accent has become it is still there and becomes stronger with her anger. You may look like a doppelganger of Nova Vasile currently, but what I am going to do to you is, quite honestly, lethal. Do you understand me, Zarya?"

She nodded boldly. "Yes I do."

The elder vampire stepped closer to her. "You mustn't give in to the temptation of darkness this time as you had when you received that cursed Mark on your arm. You fall to this darkness and there is no bringing you back. The Mark will make certain of it. Do you understand that as well, Zarya?"

She held a breath that time as she nodded. "Yes, I do."

Another step closer so they were barely an arm's length apart or less. "What I am going to do to you will give you the benefits of being a vampire and Nova Vasile, but also the disadvantages. You will be fast, you will be strong, and you will be merciless but you will also not know the full capacity of your strength, you will feel the toll of _atropa belladonna_ , and you will feel the true testament of being bloodthirsty. While you will have the skill, grace, and domination in battle you will also have fangs. If you give in and taste even one drop of human blood, there is no saving you. If you take a single human life, there is no saving you. There is no end to the spell. There will only be eternal anguish. You must incapacitate and not kill. Do you understand _that_ , little Zarya Vasile?"

 _Well, gee, when you word it like that it's way more mortifying,_ she thought. Zarya took a deep breath and remained still before nodding once more. "Yes. I understand the consequences."

Sofia shrugged as if she were hoping Zarya would have backed out. She held her hand out and Bacchus placed a vial of red in it. "Drink this then and I shall begin."

The hunter looked at the glass vial and back up at Sofia. "Dare I ask what this is…?"

"It is Nova Vasile's blood. Do not ask how I acquired it, just drink it if you are adamant on seeing this insanity through."

"Fuck it," she decided before opening the vial and tipping it back like a shot of absinthe. _What could be worse than what I've already seen in my life?_

While she was distracted by the taste and way it already made her feel, Sofia immediately began the spell. A magic circle illuminated in the ground beneath Zarya; it was a symbol neither her nor even Katia recognized. The light grew brighter as Sofia chanted, her blue eyes illuminating just as bright. Zarya could feel the effects sinking into her blood and bones. Her gums began to ache even worse than her growing breasts. Her head throbbed but when she grabbed it pointed nails scratched the flesh beneath her hair. Katia had to shield her eyes when the light got too bright. Eventually she couldn't see Zarya in the circle anymore. She forced herself to look through the light when she heard the hunter's cry of pain.

* * *

"Kid here?" Dean questioned when Castiel rejoined them outside of the barn.

The angel nodded. "He's nearby; upstairs in the barn. He's playing with a basketball."

"Cain will strike soon. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, but soon." He looked over to his brother. "And when he does…"

Sam sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, I got it. You charge in with the Blade solo. And the kid? What? We just watch and wait until Cain attacks? I thought this was a rescue mission."

"We save the kid after Cain shows."

"We know what Cain's after," Cas spoke. "That's our only advantage. We want to trap Cain, we use it."

The younger Winchester scoffed. "A 12-year-old as bait. I can't believe what I'm hearing."

"Neither can I," came the voice of Crowley as he walked up to the three.

Dean rolled his eyes. "What's the matter, Crowley? You suddenly grow a conscience? Too good to put a minor in danger?"

"Don't give a damn about the kid," the King of Hell admitted honestly. "I'm talking about the risk to us."

"There is no 'us'. You're here for one reason: to hand me the Blade."

"Yeah, about that. Seeing as this is shaping up to be one of those, uh, two-step capture then kill kind of deals, I think your buddies would agree it's better to keep the Blade out of your hands until we've got Cain sewn up, just to be safe."

Dean looked to Sam who shrugged in agreement. Begrudgingly, Dean didn't have much of a choice. So as they laid in wait for Cain, he found himself thinking of Zarya. "So," his brother's voice broke him from his thoughts, "if this works, and we capture Cain, then what?"

He shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we c- _if_ we come to it." They shared an uncertain silence before he spoke again. "You know, when I said that I would go down swinging when the time came? I meant that; I was at peace with that. I just didn't realize the time would come so soon, you know, like right now… I'm scared, Sam."

Sam smiled softly before handing his brother his phone. It was unlocked with a text conversation open. The contact ID at the top Sam had put in is phone as _**KATIA?**_ Dean looked to his brother who only urged him to take the device and read.

 _I'm not 100% if this is still your number, but if this is Katia then I need a small favor…  
_ _Dean and I… we're gonna get Cain. It's not gonna be easy and it's not exactly a plan I agree with, but he's determined to do this for Zarya's sake.  
_ _Just please keep her safe with whatever you two are attempting to do.  
_ _And I'll try to make sure Dean does too so they can return to one another in peace.  
_ _-Sam Winchester_

 _Oh, Sam, you're just a big ole teddy bear aren't you?  
_ _I apologize for my late reply, but we had to make a pit stop to hopefully ensure Zarya's safety. I'm not going to lie to you - it is something very dangerous she has agreed to do.  
_ _But then again, she is quite like that brother of yours, isn't she?  
_ _Keep this number for emergencies like this.  
_ _You bring Dean home, and I'll bring Zarya home. You have my word.  
_ _See if you can get the yutz to call and I'll try to get thickhead to answer.  
_ _-KMV_

"What the hell are they doing?" He exclaimed immediately.

Sam's lips twitched towards a smile. "Call and find out." He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and shrugged.

Dean opened his mouth, his brother's phone in his hand pointed at said owner, but he froze. Not a single word came out of his mouth or formed in his brain. All he could picture was Zarya doing any number of idiotic things and getting herself killed. Would she come back to them? Would it be as a dhampir? Would Lucifer chuck her back again before that happened? What would the mirrored Mark of Cain do to all of that? His grip tightened around the device before his mouth shut. He flipped his brother the bird before hitting the call button beside Katia's name.

"If they don't answer-" He started. Then the ringing stopped.

"Good timing; you were just about out of it, _drŭvnik_."

" _What?_ "

On the other end Katia rolled her eyes that stared out at the morning sun over the highway horizon. "It's Bulgarian for thickhead which is exactly what you are." She then turned to Zarya who was driving in full Nova attire and poking at her fangs with her free hand and held out the phone. "It's for you."

Zarya glanced down at the screen for a quick second but that was all it took for her to recognize the number on the screen. She shook her head, knowing who was on the other end and could hear. In Ohio Dean stared at his brother with an increasingly doubting expression. Katia rolled her eyes once more and turned the call on speakerphone. "Just speak. She can hear you." Zarya gave the dhampir a look similar to Dean's when he remained quiet.

"Zare?" Dean finally choked out.

The ravenette bit her thumb as carefully as she could without touching her temporary fangs. She wanted to talk to him, but not only was it a conversation neither of them would want to have after previously but Zarya was rocking Nova's accent thanks to Sofia's magic. He definitely would not want to hear Nova Vasile's voice. Katia sighed when she picked up on the driver's vibe.

"Okay so part of this ridiculous plan kind of… might have… temporarily changed Zarya's voice," the dhampir offered. "I swear to the stars it's Zarya and if she womans up and uses her words you will know that. Now, Z, _speak_." She smiled at the young hunter in disguise.

The brothers heard a sigh that, even with the accent, still came out like typical Zarya. Her temporarily emerald green eyes darted about the highway and trees ahead. "Yeah, Dean… I'm here. Accomplishing all of the stupid as you can hear."

"Wait, what?" Sam spoke first, unable to think before doing so. He recognized Nova's voice right off the bat.

She heard his surprise and smiled sadly. "Hey, Sammy… some Freaky Friday shit but even more freaky, yeah?"

"You wanna tell us why and how the hell you sound like the vamp you're so determined to save?" came Dean.

"I don't think either of us have time for that, do we, boys?" Katia swore she saw tears threatening and glistening in Zarya's eyes. "If this goes south, and you guys make it out okay, then Whitmore is up to something."

"Zare-"

"No, you guys need to hear me out before I lose the nerve or reach the exit. If I don't make it out of here, _do fucking not_ come shredding through Virginia for me. Whitmore is about as safe as Mystic Falls for you. My mom… she went there. And they tried to get rid of the records. You guys do what you need to do and I'm gonna do the same. We'll all make it back to Lebanon eventually, won't we?"

They could all hear the breaking of her voice by the end. Even with the hint of old Romanian they really could still hear their Zarya over it. Dean rubbed his face and nodded. "Yeah," he finally answered rather roughly. "Yeah we will, Zare. Promise me you'll fight like hell?"

She gave way to a small laugh. "If I've gotta go down then I'm going down swinging, I promise. I'll see you _both_ soon, right?"

Before Dean could answer, he saw Sam mouth 'say it' repeatedly. He rolled his eyes and turned his back to Sam. "As long as you make it the hell out of there." Sam went around him to continue mouthing the two words. His grip tightened around the phone, heart beating wildly in his chest. "Listen, Zare… I… I uh…"

As Sam got eager that it was finally going to happen, _both_ of their phones disconnected. Sam's died with fifteen percent still left, and Katia's dropped service just as they reached the exit to Whitmore campus. Zarya clasped the necklace hanging around her neck; it was forged from the chunk of protective stone from Remiel's box, fashioned into a pendant that resembled Nova's lapis lazuli necklace. Her adrenaline and anxiety were violently battling one another.

" _You know you're safest with me, Rya."_

What if something did go horribly wrong? It was up to Katia to retrieve Nova while Zarya distracted anyone in the middle. Surely it would stir up some commotion seeing the vampire that's probably chained up somewhere else in their facility. Thanks to Katia they were able to find blueprints hidden that showed a sublevel of Whitmore House not listed in the official blueprints. Unfortunately, of course Nova's deeply rooted Power would be ice. Just another thing that made her think of someone she desperately could not right then.

"Are you certain you can handle this, Zarya?" Katia asked softly as she parked outside of Whitmore House down in the lot. "You have to survive until dusk as Nova…"

Zarya chuckled humorlessly. "If we're fighting here until dusk then we're screwed. If we save Nova and I start getting stressed on the way out then I guess I have a life coach right there."

"That's not quite what I mean. You were unwell even before we left this morning. You can't let that affect you right now."

She exhaled a long breath and slumped a little in her seat. "Honestly? I'm terrified. I'm scared to hell and back that without Sam and Dean or…" She bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm afraid I'm gonna fail and it's gonna be the last time I do."

 _This isn't just about the Winchesters,_ Katia deduced rather quickly. _You drove the wedge between Lucifer and Remiel without even realizing, didn't you? Poor child… so aware of everything except what goes on in her own mind and heart…_

"Even if we fail here today, look at what you have already accomplished for our clan." Katia smiled at her. "While we're not all actually united, we know there's one of us out there willing to fight through the fire. That alone has given a lot of us the courage to get back to our roots, or come out of hiding. You and Nova… you two are exactly what this family needs when you're at your best level. Give this your damn bests and the rest will follow."

Zarya turned and smiled her human, Zarya smile even with Nova's face. "Let's try to expose Whitmore House then."

* * *

While Castiel stood before Cain, Sam ushered young Austin into the barn hastily. Cas boldly raised his hand to the Knight, his eyes gleaming a magnificent, angelic blue, and a bright light emanated from his hand. What normally could have smited or at least injured someone merely blew Cain's hair around like a breeze. Cain pointed his knife at Castiel and flicked to the right, sending the angel's blade flying out of his hand. Cain repeated the gesture and tossed Castiel into the side of a truck. He stalked towards the barn as Sam slammed the doors shut with Austin behind him. Cain bashed the doors repeatedly until his just… stopped.

Sam whipped around and saw Cain standing in front of Austin. The kid's eyes went bug wide. "Don't… please don't…."

Without hesitation, Cain rammed his knife through the kid's gut. Instead of crumbling in agony to the barn floor, however, he disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke. "Illusion spell," Cain noted.

"Oh, yeah," Sam replied boldly. "The real Austin is long gone."

"Eighteenth century magic. If I had to hazard a guess… Rune of Amaranth."

"Good eye," came Crowley behind the Knight. "Something I picked up from my mother."

* * *

"Remember," Katia whispered as she snuck them down into the basement with a careful, crafty magic of her own Zarya would ask about later, "rage, but not homicide."

Zarya smirked. Her supernatural hearing picked up the sounds of only a few people in the vicinity. "Showtime." She winked and Katia vanished with the shadows of the basement. _Well, Nova sings and gets attention, right? Let's not fuck up the song then…_

Her heels clicked down the cement floor which alerted the three security guards nearby. With the music in her ears she put on her Nova face and started to sing.

" _Some like beautiful, perfect and pretty  
_ _I see the good in the bad and the ugly  
_ _I need the volume one louder than ten  
_ _I put the pedal to the metal, needle into the red-_ "

The three were definitely startled. They actually paused, thinking they might be hallucinating or under some sort of spell, until she kept walking closer. Whatever she was they had to take her down. They all charged down the hallway, the two in back drawing their guns and taking shots. Zarya danced around the bullets as she sang.

" _If the windows ain't shaking  
_ _Making my heart race  
_ _If I can't feel it in my chest  
_ _I'm in the wrong damn place!_

 _I got a demon in my soul and a voice in my head  
_ _It's saying go, go, go! I can sleep when I'm dead  
_ _There's a sonic revelation bringing me to my knees  
_ _And there's a man down below who needs my sympathy_

 _I got a ringing in my ears getting ready to burst  
_ _Screaming "hallelujah, mother fucker take me to church!'_ "

She knew, somehow, that _he_ would hear her. As much as she loathed to admit it, she knew if she needed _him_ that _he_ would be there. With thoughts of _him_ flooding her mind all over again, she used it as rage to fuel her Nova. The veins appeared beneath her darkening eyes and she felt her fangs extending. Adrenaline shot through her veins at a rapid pace. With great speed and strength she flipped over the middle guard and grabbed the two in the back by their throats. Just enough pressure knocked them out rather than killing them.

" _I like it louder than the boom  
_ _Of a big bass drum!  
_ _I need it harder than the sound  
_ _Of a guitar grunge!_

 _I love to crank it up  
_ _Make it thump  
_ _And evil to the core  
_ _Headbanging in the pit_

 _And throwing my horns  
_ _And just like old school  
_ _Sabbath, Zeppelin and Lemmy  
_ _I need to drop it down low  
_ _And make it heavy_

 _I like it heavy, oh ohh  
_ _I like it heavy, oh ohh!_ "

She whipped around elegantly and faced the third as he pulled his wooden bullet loaded gun on her. Still being human under her facade, bullets of any kind aimed at her heart would still kill her. She snarled and ducked down as she charged for him. His finger pulled back on the trigger but it was nowhere near fast enough. He was tackled into a wall which disoriented him and gave Zarya the change to choke him until he passed out. Once he dropped to the floor, she brushed off her jacket and continued to strut down the hall.

" _I ride the lightning, roll with the thunder  
_ _I'm going down down down with my sisters and brothers  
_ _I fell in love with their darkest parts  
_ _Standing on the side of the wild at heart  
_ _I plucked the feather off a crow so I could fly  
_ _Since I was thirteen years old I've had my fist to the sky-_ "

She realized that time the one man at the end of the hall was a _real_ vampire. He must have been controlled or owned by whoever was in charge.

"Now," came his accented voice with a daunting smirk, "I _know_ you cannot be the real Nova Vasile."

"Perhaps you're just seeing ghosts," she retorted back in Nova's voice. Her dark red lips pulled into a smirk, then the two shot down the ends of the hall at one another. Blow for blow they struggled against the other until they were knocked to opposite ends. Zarya grinned toothily and took off further with her vampire speed and vampire assailant right behind. As he started to catch up, she daringly diverted and ran up a wall so he would run underneath her. He ended up getting confused by the move and slamming into another wall while she landed perfectly on the floor.

" _I like it louder than the boom  
_ _Of a big bass drum!  
_ _I need it harder than the sound  
_ _Of a guitar grunge!_

 _I love to crank it up  
_ _Make it thump  
_ _And evil to the core!  
_ _Headbanging in the pit_

 _And throwing my horns!  
_ _And just like old school  
_ _Sabbath, Zeppelin and Lemmy  
_ _I need to drop it down low  
_ _And make it heavy!_

 _I like it heavy, oh ohh!  
_ _I like it heavy, oh ohh!  
_ _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy!  
_ _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy!  
_ _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy!  
_ _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy!_ "

Her song amped her up enough to continue singing as she hit the vampire with each line. He grew astounded with her speed and strength, beginning to worry if Nova Vasile had actually escaped and they didn't tell him. Knowing he was a vampire, Zarya was able to snap his neck to still only incapacitate him. As he dropped to the floor, she stepped over him and brushed herself off again.

" _Some like beautiful, perfect and pretty  
_ _I see the good in the bad and the ugly  
_ _I like it heavy, oh ohh  
_ _I like it heavy, oh ohh_

 _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy  
_ _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy  
_ _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy  
_ _I like it, I like it, I like it heavy!_ "

Zarya was almost having too much fun being Nova. The sheer power that surged through her was unlike anything she had ever felt before. The strength, the speed, the combat; she never felt more at home than on that battlefield. No matter how she fought with the Winchesters, how she and Dean survived Purgatory, how she mentally had to fight off Remiel; nothing came close to the high she got taking down everyone in her path like squishing a bug.

Someone ran up behind her suddenly and grabbed her as hard as they could. More footsteps were hastily scrambling her way. She vamped out and flipped whoever it was over her head without thinking. He landed on the hard floor, actually cracking it with his skull from the force, and started to bleed. Zarya's eyes widened. He tried scrambling away while he bled as more associates ran in to attack her. She saw syringes of purple in some hands. _Deadly Nightshade._ Her heart began to race as the panic set in.

* * *

"My turn," Dean announced with the First Blade in his hand. It had still taken more assuring to Sam, Cas, and Crowley that he could handle it and (hopefully) return the blade. With one final look at the three, he headed into the barn where Cain was still temporarily held in a Devil's Trap.

"Hello, Dean," he greeted when he saw the Winchester. "At a loss for words, my son? Allow me; this is the part where you tell me it's not too late and I can lay down my arms, abandon my mission. 'We don't have to fight'."

"I'll spare us the formalities. You're past talking down, Cain. You're fully mental."

"Oh, I prefer to think I've finally gotten clear." He spoke as he walked around the Devil's Trap. "When I made my bargain with Lucifer, killed Abel, I released a stain upon the Earth. A stain deeper and far more lasting than mere precedence."

"Yeah, your bloodline's tainted. Kind of expected when you have Cursed Twins or whatever with Saskia freakin' Vasile."

"So I know." He stopped walking suddenly. "Not all killers are my descendants, and not all of my descendants are killers, but enough are. Enough for me to know that extinguishing them is the least I owe this world. Can you honestly tell me that humanity is not better off with fewer Tommy's and fewer Leon's?" He paused, a dark and sly smile creeping on his face. "Fewer you's?"

"And what about the Vasiles? What about your once wife and daughters? Daciana is still alive, if you recall. Kicking it around the south with the family of lunatics that took her in after she ran away from everything you and Saskia did to her."

Cain chuckled morbidly. "Ah, my precious Daciana. Her sister had all of the wrong parts of their mother." He shook his head. "Tell me, Dean, do you know any truth at all to Saskia's life? To my daughters'? Or to any of the Vasiles? You've come to find everything about your darling Zarya to be a lie. Cute girl, by the way. Very strong. But just not meant for you even with the Mark mirrored onto her."

Anger boiled within Dean slowly. His grip on the Blade tightened. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Zarya Vasile is the worst of them all, Dean. The Mark didn't mirror onto her because of how much she loves you. It cast itself onto her flesh because you had enough darkness radiating off of you that you may as well have been toxic waste. She was born to darkness and you fed her more. All you've done is help set her down the very path she was meant to be on."

"Don't say it," he snarled through grit teeth.

"Why do you think the Mark never mirrored before you died and became a demon? She loved you then, didn't she? But she had yet to feel _true_ pain. She didn't have to watch her beloved Nick die before her eyes. You broke her, and then glued the pieces back together with blood and darkness. All you've been doing is pushing her right into Lucifer's embrace."

"You don't know jack about Zare!" Dean shouted with rage. The Mark burned deeply on his arm. "She's a drummer, a waitress, and above all else a hunter. She's the bravest damn soul I've ever met, probably even more than Sam and I honestly. And she'll storm her way through the fire just to prove every last one of you wrong."

Cain shrugged nonchalantly. "If you insist, Dean. Though do tell me… how's it feel to be holding the Blade again?"

He raised the First Blade from his side and looked at it before turning his attention back onto Cain. "It feels like a means to an end." He boldly stepped into the Devil's Trap, earning a smirk from Cain.

"Then do it."

* * *

Katia found the cells where Whitmore House kept their vampires, disturbed by the mere idea. Nova's was at the very end in the darkest corner away from everyone else. She laid on the floor on her side looking worse than ever. Before she got close enough to the locks she heard Zarya screaming and fighting for her life. As much as she longed to unlock the door to the true beast, Nova was of no help to them at all. They would have had to literally drag her out. She bit her lip and instead ran back for the hunter. Katia skid to a stop when she saw the hoard of guards and doctor dressed people desperately trying to put who they thought was Nova down.

Zarya saw the dhampir through the crowd with panic in her black eyes. She shoved as many people off of her as she could, tossing them into walls as less hard as she could. "Get out of here!" She cried. "Save yourself, please!"

Eyes turned onto the dhampir suddenly. "I'll come back for you, I swear!" She shouted with tears in her eyes before dashing off with supernatural speed out of the basement.

Katia ran and ran with speed until she couldn't anymore. She just about made it to the Virginia border when she had to slow down to a quick human run. Tears whipped behind her for Zarya and Nova both. There were only a select few people who could help her before time ran out. In a last ditch effort as she ran, the dhampir took out her phone and dialed. She didn't wait to strike up a conversation. The second the person answered she had to speak quickly.

"Whitmore!" She just about sobbed. "Zarya… Nova… Whitmore; please help! I can't-" She was cut off suddenly, the phone falling from her hand as she was ripped off of the ground screaming.

Back inside Zarya was still desperately fighting for her life. A couple of guards offered to snap her neck and knock her out but the voice she recognized from making the exchange with Saskia came forth. He was certain she wasn't Nova Vasile since Nova was still mostly unconscious in her cell. He had a theory she must be another Vasile. They stabbed her with needles of Deadly Nightshade that burned her inside because of her facade, but nowhere near Nova's level. Part of her couldn't help but wonder how such a deadly plant wouldn't kill her even though she was still actually human.

The Mark started to scorch her arm and she got more violent. She tossed a couple of people into walls, cracking their skulls. She was lucky it wasn't hard enough to actually kill them. The Deadly Nightshade was beginning to wear her down and make her dizzy. It gave the guards an opening to fully restrain her at last. That was when Dr. Maxfield walked up to her with a syringe of what looked like white and gold. She thrashed against those holding her which only made the doctor chuckle. "Don't worry, kiddo. If I'm right, then this is going to get very… hm, trippy for you I suppose. And it's alright if you go a lot numb too."

Without warning he stabbed the needle deep into the side of her neck. She let out a cry in pain, then felt effects immediately. Her body temperature dropped rapidly, heartbeat sped up, sweat dripping down her face and neck, and worst of all, Sofia's spell began to recede. The fangs retreated until they were gone entirely, her figure became lanky once again, and the blue began to swirl back into the green of her eyes. A nurse came over with a wet cloth and wiped the sweat and makeup off of her face. She started to pant and the room spun while Dr. Maxfield clapped proudly.

"Zarya Vasile," he beamed with a bright smile. "You have no idea how glad I am to welcome you to the Augustine Society. I have so much to learn about you. Bring her to the lab." He told the guards. "I have a whole new book of research to do."

Finally dazed, confused, and weak, they dragged Zarya down the hall helplessly. The heels fell right off unnoticed. She fought desperately to stay conscious and note where they were taking her but it was becoming increasingly too difficult. She felt them toss her onto a cold, metal table and strap her down. Part of her thought about Dean with deep sorrow, but one part kept reminding her of a guaranteed way out.

 _Absolutely not,_ she told herself even as tears streaked her numbing face. _Go ahead and experiment on me or torment me fuckers. I'm not calling for him and already endured worse by the devil himself. Give me your worst._


	28. Where Did My Mind Go?

28: Where Did My Mind Go?

Dean tried so many times to stab Cain with the First Blade. The Knight danced around him with no trouble at all, then threw Dean to the ground. The hunter got right back up with even more determination. Again he attempted to stab Cain, that time swinging in with a punch first. Cain grabbed his wrist and they both began a struggle for the Blade.

"That seems a bit weaker than I would expect from you with the Blade," Cain commented. "I think you can do better." Once more Dean tried to hit him. "Unless…" He paused which gave Dean the quickest moment to hit him twice in the face. "You're holding back." Blow for blow the two began back and forth, each attempt made by the hunter brushed off as if it were nothing.

Dean lunged at him to which Cain grabbed both of his hands. They struggled against one another still for the blade. "What is is, Dean?" Cain taunted. "Do you think if you hold back just enough, you won't succumb? That you will leave this fight the same as you entered?!" In one swift movement he tossed Dean to the ground. "Look to my example, boy! There is no resisting the Mark or the Blade. There is only remission, and relapse!" He yelled before punching Dean repeatedly.

In that moment, Dean thought of Zarya. He saw her get up over and over and over again in so many fights where she should have just stayed down. He thought about what they had been through, what he had done to her, and an overprotective fury sparked violently within him. Above all else he would free Zarya from her darkness. So once more he stood and wiped some blood from his lip while he panted. "You told me that this day would come. You told me that I would have to kill you."

"Is that so?" He held out his hand, flicked his wrist, and flung Dean across the barn through a window. "I'm afraid you've misunderstood my intentions here, Dean. When your pet angel found my burial site, I thought about ending him and swatting him like a fly." Dean forced himself back up and stumbled into the doorway as Cain spoke. "But then I thought about you. Your biggest weakness, the thing I noticed the moment I met you, your courage, your reckless bravado. I let him go, knowing that he would report back to you, knowing you would bring into battle the one thing that can kill me, the one thing I truly want."

Both men's eyes caught the First Blade just laying on the edge of the Devil's Trap, half in and half out. Dean dove for it just as Cain flicked his wrist to pull it towards him and put his boot on it. As soon as his skin made contact with it the old feeling had returned. Dean boldly tried to attack him another time in which Cain grabbed him by the throat and held him above the ground.

"This may be hard to believe," the Knight told him, "in light of what I'm about to do to you, but I care about you, Dean. I truly do. But I know I'm doing you a favor. I'm saving you."

Dean choked from the grip on his jugular. "Saving me from what?"

"From your fate." He tossed Dean back onto the floor. "Has it never occurred to you? Have you never mused upon the fact that you're living my life in reverse? My story began when I killed my brother and fell for a monster. That's inevitably where your story will end."

"No," he choked before trying helplessly to get up. "Never."

Cain stomped mercilessly on his chest to push him back down. "It's called the Mark of Cain for a reason! First… first you'd kill Crowley. There'd be some strange, mixed feelings on that one. But you would have your reason. Probably trying to save darling Zarya from something awful. You'd get it done, no remorse. And then you'd kill the angel, Castiel. Now that one… that I suspect would hurt something awful. But it would come down to sweet, smiling Zarya? Would it not? And then!" He bent down swiftly and shoved his knees into Dean's chest. "Then would come the murder you'd never survive; the one that would finally turn you into as much of a savage as it did to me."

Dean caught sight of the knife tucked under Cain's coat. "No," he snarled in defense with the First Blade to his throat.

"Your brother Sam." Cain relentlessly continued on. "You'll take him out without an inkling of remorse by then. But when you turn and expect to see the only person who did not see you as a monster because she was no better herself, she will not be there. Zarya will take whatever she needs from you, whatever that Mark is willing to feed her from your madness, and watch the world, and you, burn herself. The only thing standing between you and that destiny is this Blade. You're welcome, my son."

His fury burned bright just then. Zarya would never do such a thing. She was a hunter; she was their family. He just had to protect her from the darkness that wanted to claim her so badly. With great haste as Cain pulled his arm back with the Blade, Dean ripped the knife out of his jacket and swung just as the Blade came back down. The sharpness of the knife sliced right through Cain's hand, sending it and the Blade crashing across the barn. He got up quickly while Cain gaped at his bleeding, handless wrist and grabbed the First Blade. His olive eyes looked down at the kneeling Knight with mixed emotions.

"Tell me I don't have to do this," escaped his lips without thought. Zarya's voice haunted the back of his mind. "Tell me that you'll stop. Tell me that you can stop!"

Cain looked up at him probably the same unfeeling way that Demon Dean had looked down at a pleading Zarya. The hunter's eyes closed to ignore the internal agony at Cain's response.

"I will never stop."

* * *

The most obnoxious ringing abruptly awoke Zarya, sending her tumbling off of the edge of her bed and onto the floor. Her hand slapped around the top of the nightstand until it shut the incessant ringing off. With a sigh she dragged herself back up to sit on the side of her bed she had fallen off and rubbed her tired eyes. When they focused, the gentle lilac of her walls in Pike Creek stared back at her. She caught the time on the clock that had awoken her and screeched.

"I'm gonna be late!" She exclaimed before flying to her closet while flinging off her pajamas. "I can't be late _again_ dammit!" She fell onto her floor trying to tug on her black pants. "Jackie will fire me for sure!"

Zarya dressed hastily in her waitress uniform before running down the stairs in socks as fast as she could while putting her hair in a (albeit messy) ponytail. She hopped around while tugging on her shoes before grabbing her coat and bag off the hook by the door. The door slammed shut behind her with how fast she closed it but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the car waiting out front for her. The passenger window facing her rolled down to reveal Nick smiling out at her.

"Somehow I figured I could make it back in time before you were just _too_ late," he teased her. "Get in quick before Jackie murders you!" He laughed.

She grinned ear to ear and practically jumped in the vehicle beside him. As soon as her door shut he took right off towards the diner. "So you really got Sarah and Tarin to her mom's before I actually left?"

"Of course I did, because you can't manage time if your life depended on it, Rya." They shared a laugh at her expense. "Sarah even told me if the traffic was clear enough that I could make it back just in time to get you before Jackie ripped you a new one."

She grinned up at him while she hugged his free arm. "And that is why you are my very best friend and I love you endlessly."

Nick got her to work just in time. She ran in after giving him a quick peck on the cheek and slammed her time card into the puncher not ten seconds before being late. Jackie tapped her foot with her arms crossed but there was just nothing she could do. Especially not when they got slammed at lunch and Zarya ran around like mad handling everything to near perfection. To make up for nearly being late (and to pull in some extra cash) she even did a double and stayed until closing. It was a peaceful walk home until she saw Nick sitting on her front steps with his head in his hands and phone broken on the ground.

"What's the matter?" She asked as she jogged up and tossed her bag on the grass. She dropped to her knees in front of him and took his hands in her own. "Nick, what happened?"

Finally he looked up to her with tears in his eyes. "Tarin and Sarah…" His voice cracked. Her eyes widened as her heart began to race. "They were all coming back… with her parents from dinner… a young kid was racing some buddy of his… ran their car right off the road…"

"Oh, God, no…" Her breath caught painfully in her chest as tears welled in her own green-blue eyes. "They all…?"

He nodded solemnly. "Not a damn one of them survived."

Zarya too began to cry with her best friend. He pulled her into a tight embrace on the stoop as their mourned their losses. For most of the night they kept one another company and awake drinking coffee. Nick wasn't sure if he'd have to drive into the city to handle anything yet as they were still dealing with the drivers and bodies. Only once the sun came up did the two make some kind of attempt to rest in their own beds. Zarya tossed and turned for most of the early morning before calling Jackie to let her know. The woman took pity on Zarya with ease knowing the situation and gave Zarya some time off. She cried a bit more alone before finally falling into a dreamless sleep.

The grief kept her asleep well into the night. Just before she could stir on her own accord, someone sitting on the side of her bed woke her right up. She relaxed when she realized it was only Nick, looking even more exhausted and distraught than before. "I can't bury them, Rya," he told her in a voice barely above a pained whisper. "I just can't do it…"

She sat up slowly and leaned her head on his shoulder. "What do you want to do? What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to believe me when I tell you something that's going to sound insane… and I need you to tell me what to do after…"

She looked up at him with her own grief struck and tired yet still gleaming green-blue eyes. She wrapped her small hand around his and gave a little squeeze. "I think I'm fried enough to handle anything from you right now so whatever it is just go ahead. Tell me, Nick."

He had to take a deep breath before speaking, barely able to look her in the eyes. "I couldn't… I couldn't protect Tarin and Sarah…"

"That was an accident, it's not-"

He shook his head and squeezed her hand. "I can't protect you, Rya. Not like you need… or deserve. But… but someone can." Finally he met her gaze with just brokenness in his blue eyes. "He can keep you safe, and avenge Sarah and Tarin. The thing is… it's an angel."

"An angel? Were you drinking when you went home?"

"Not the point, Rya. It's the truth. He can do what he says he just… he needs a vessel. A human body."

Zarya's blood turned cold beneath her skin. "Yours…" He nodded. "How do you believe this is true though? Did the angel happen to give you a name?"

Nick nodded gravely. "Lucifer."

* * *

"Dean?" Sam called when he saw his brother walking down the stairs. He looked pretty beat up, and mildly dissociated, but alive.

"Dean, the Blade," Crowley reminded.

The elder Winchester looked at the Blade in his hand still. He walked Crowley's way, but handed the Blade to Castiel instead. The King of Hell insisted Dean lied to him. "It's not the first time today," he admitted. "Cain's list… you weren't on it."

He collapsed against his brother then and Sam tried to hold him up. "Hey, hey," he tried to smile. "You did it, Dean. You did it."

But Dean looked devastated as he looked over his brother's shoulder. Cain's words continued echoing through his mind. Was Zarya really as bad off as he claimed? Would Dean lose it and kill his loved ones? Would it be because of Zarya…?

"Zare," he told Sam roughly while trying to look at him. "We gotta find Zare."

* * *

Zarya could do nothing but take pity on her beloved. She didn't want to lose him too, but in a way she wasn't. He would still be in there for whenever Lucifer found a new vessel or got bored or who the hell knew. Part of her wished someone would pop in and offer her a numbing escape. But she knew she couldn't do such a thing; not when Nick was giving himself up just to ensure her safety. As much as it pained her to let him, Nick said 'yes'. He held her as closely and as tightly as he possibly could as himself one last time before a bright light and piercing static nearly blew down the room. When it finally stopped she remained clung to her best friend's shirt still, unmoving. Only when his hand reached up and touched the back of her head gently did she jump.

She backed up a few inches, still gripping the blue button down shirt. Silent tears continued to spill from her bright yet so mournful eyes. There was something different in his expression. He reached up slowly and brushed away a couple of tears with the back of his index finger. "Please don't cry, Rya. I promise you will be alright."

"You're not Nick anymore," she breathed. New tears replaced the ones he tried to wipe away.

"No, I'm not. But he values you so deeply that I vowed to him I would keep you safe in exchange for this."

"Why?" Her knuckles turned white from her grip on his shirt. "Why do you give a damn? And why open up with _his_ nickname for me?"

He grabbed her wrists softly which caused her to release the fabric. "Because he gives a damn. He gives so much of a damn that I do now. And I don't have to; I can just call you Zarya if you prefer."

Her nose scrunched up and she snatched her hands back to cross her arms over her chest. "No, actually, don't do that. Not while you've got my best friend's face." She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. "Why Nick though?" When he didn't answer she buried her head in her arms.

"There are people coming for you, Rya." He finally spoke, earning her attention again. "I can protect you. And I'm going to."

"Who would come after me? Why?"

"Because you're special, sweetheart." He half smiled at her. "It's time to stand and fight. Can you manage that?" She shrugged timidly which caused him to roll his eyes. "Oh come on. Up in here," he pointed to Nick's head, "it's endless blabber about you." Her cheeks tinted pink. "So smart, so cunning, so brave, so be-" He stopped himself when he realized what he was about to say. While yes, it was his vessel's thought, somehow the archangel couldn't find a way to disagree. "Point is, I'm under the impression you're some badass."

Zarya laughed a little with some embarrassment. "I don't know where Nick got the idea that I'm a badass, but I am definitely not. I'm a drummer, and a waitress. Neither of which are exactly badass."

He looked at her with a playful smirk. "I guess I'll just have to make you the badass then."


	29. You Are Still Lost in a Dream Like a Mem

29: You Are Still Lost in a Dream Like a Memory.

" _No consequences, no pain, no sorrow…"_

Zarya sighed as she wiped down her last table of the night. She couldn't stop thinking about Nick and, by default, Lucifer. Jackie had been surprised that she came back so soon, especially with how distraught she looked. The older woman tried to send Zarya back home but she insisted on working. She needed something to do. Jackie didn't need to know the real reason why.

"Nick's here for ya, Zarya!" the brunette woman called from behind the counter.

She froze as she was bent over the table wiping with a rag. It wasn't Nick. Not anymore. The door chimed when Jackie let him in but still Zarya could not find the will to move. She started forcibly scrubbing when she heard them talking just to freeze again.

"How are ya holding up, darlin'?" Jackie asked with empathy in her voice as she finished cleaning the counter. "Zarya doesn't seem to be doing too well…"

Zarya could feel his eyes on her back while she cleaned the last booth. She refused to look up but listened to them talk. "Yeah… it's… it hasn't been very easy. We're actually thinking of leaving Pike Creek." That was when she froze again with the rag in her hand.

"Really? Anywhere in particular? You two have been here just about all your lives. Maybe it's good if you get out and see something new. A fresh start, right?" Jackie smiled kindly at him.

The ravenette finally looked up and met his eye. Rather than smiling at Jackie, he smiled at her. "That's exactly what I'm thinking."

Jackie practically ushered Zarya out herself after that, handing her a paycheck and saying bon voyage. If only she knew the truth. Zarya played it cool as if it really were Nick picking her up from work again. She tugged the hair tie from her ponytail while she walked beneath his arm holding the door open for her. She could play his game if that was what he wanted to do. Even as they walked down the dimly lit street they merely appeared to be Nick and Zarya no different than any other night. Zarya was the only one who could see the difference in his eyes. Nick's blue eyes were always so boyish and filled with emotion. Every time Zarya looked up to the same eyes she could see a playful, devilish stare boldly eyeing her. She could see it was Lucifer.

"You're awfully quiet," the archangel commented to break the silence.

"I'm trying to figure out your motives," she quipped back immediately.

He chuckled at her boldness and quickness. "So you two have really lived in this dingy town all your lives?"

She nodded, green-blue eyes turning towards the starry sky as she walked the same path she had for several years. "Spent our childhoods in Maryland and wound up out here as soon as we were adults."

"Sounds as if you were trying to get away from something."

"Sounds as if you're trying to fish for something."

Another chuckle at her quick wit. "Nick's memories… they're all about you. Save for his wife and child. It's not much of a story to piece together; more so spending time with you. Since day one it has been nothing but you. Why is that?"

Zarya sighed. "Because my birth family didn't want me." She shrugged. "They had some other, stupid, bullshit to deal with that was more important than raising the child they just carried for nine months. So they handed me off to some friends. Nick was always there. He was the only one who was. He's the only reason I stood a chance of growing up remotely normal and not so horrendously abandoned." When Lucifer remained quiet for longer than she anticipated, she looked up at him.

"Your parents didn't deserve a child then." He told her simply without looking at her. "Do you want to leave Pike Creek?"

She scoffed. "Does it matter what my answer is? My boss already shoved me out the door and told me to start a new life."

"Fine. Let me rephrase then; where would you like to go outside of this depressing town?"

"Does my opinion matter?"

He stopped walking abruptly which caused her to stop a couple of step ahead. "You're making it incredibly difficult to be patient with you, Rya. What the hell are you smiling at?"

She hadn't actually realized she was smiling, though she knew why she would be. "Nick says that to me at least five times a day. His eyebrow twitches like that too." Her gaze shifted back towards the shimmering stars and bright crescent moon above them. "I guess somewhere further north… I never really thought about it."

"You seriously never considered leaving… this?" He gestured around at the dirty streets, and endless blocks of brick buildings. "Why north if anything?"

"Pike Creek is the first home I made for myself away from everything. My first 'fresh start' I guess. And north because I don't really care for south or west. I'll visit a beach once or twice a summer, but that's about it."

Lucifer offered her a half smile and shrug. "We'll go north then."

* * *

Dean stared at his phone while he sat at the table. He kept hoping Zarya would call or text or something. Even with all of his own cuts and bruises he was still worrying endlessly about her. What could she have possibly gotten herself into? He was broken from his thoughts only when Sam sat across from him.

"Still nothing from Clarke?" He asked quietly. His brother shook his head. "Dean, um, you know, what you did back there, it was incredible. You know, if you can do that without losing yourself… that's cause for hope, even without a cure."

His olive eyes looked back down at the phone. "Yeah… maybe." He heard Castiel join them. "Have you found Zare yet?"

Castiel's face was grim. "I can't locate her, Katia, or Nova. All three have vanished from sight without a trace…"

Sam's hand twitched at the news and he instinctively grabbed his laptop. "She said she was headed to Virginia, right?"

Dean closed the laptop before his brother could turn it on. "Something's up at Whitmore College and we are not going to go running in, guns blazing." Sam and Cas' eyes widened. "I'm gonna go sleep for about four days, and _then_ we are bringing down Whitmore if Zare doesn't give us proof of life by then."

"What if there is no proof of life by then, Dean?" Sam exclaimed. "What if she hasn't called yet because they've already got her?"

"Who knows what they could find out about the Vasiles or Zarya in specific," Castiel added.

Dean stood and started walking out of the room, patting Cas on the shoulder when he reached the angel. "I feel more bad for the people holding her captive when she gets the upper hand, because she will."

Sam watched his brother walk out and towards his bedroom. Part of him still wanted to get on his computer and try to find Zarya. Begrudgingly, the younger brother decided he would at least wait until morning. He looked up to find Cas' face riddled with concern. "How is he? Sam?"

He rubbed his face. His hazel eyes were distraught and exhausted. "Cas… they're both in trouble. And I'm not sure if we can save _both_ of them…"

* * *

When Zarya and Lucifer finally came to her neighborhood, they noticed an unfamiliar car parked a bit of the way down from her house. She insisted she knew everyone's vehicles on the block and the older but still shining Impala was not one of them. Lucifer told her she was right, that the car belonged to two of the people after her.

"Who the hell would come after me?" She whisper yelled at him. "Why would anyone bother?"

"Because of your parents, Rya," he replied low. "I can explain once I get you out of here so you're going to run straight up your stairs and grab the first handfuls of things you can. But I'm going to need you to trust me. Do you understand?"

Her eyes widened. "You don't think they're waiting inside for me, do you?" When he didn't answer she rubbed her face and let out a soft groan. "Cool. Let's do this then."

Acting as if it were any other normal night Nick walked Zarya home again, they walked up her pathway to the front door. The second the locks clicked open she flung open the door and flew up the stairs. Footsteps rounded the corner on her wood floors but she was already at the top of the stairs by time Lucifer blocked the path of whoever it was. She could hear some kind of chatter/yelling while she rushed about her bedroom shoving things into a backpack. Something broke which caused her to jump.

" _Rya! Window! Now!_ "

Her green-blue eyes widened as far as they could, her dark lashes brushing her eyebrows. No, he couldn't mean what she thought he did. Her gaze turned to the large, bay window in her room. She almost laughed. No, not even the devil was _that_ psychotic, right? She bit her lip and clutched the strap of her bag so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

" _But I'm going to need you to trust me."_

A gunshot rang through the house and made Zarya _literally_ jump. Her heart was racing. Eyes kept darting between the door and window. What the hell was she supposed to do? How could she have let Nick put her in such a position?

" _No consequences, no pain, no sorrow… maybe he'll do more for you than I could…"_

Tossing the bag on her back, her feet padded across towards the door. She quickly shut and locked it before turning with her back against the wall. Her hands gripped both straps on her shoulders tightly with panic. Heart beating nearly out of her chest, her feet thudded against the floor straight for the window. Zarya braced herself and spun just in time with the momentum to crash through the window with her side and back. As she started to fall, her eyes shot open and looked again to the shimmering stars. Just before doubt could creep in there was a flutter of feathers and she felt like she was being sucked into oblivion with arms tightly around her.

* * *

Katia groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. Her head was _pounding_. Her eyes fluttered open in time but her vision still had to focus. It was just a matter of time until she realized her arms were held straight above her by tight and thick chains. She tried to tug at them but her body was still too numb with no sign of strengthening. It was difficult for her to breathe and she could feel no psychic connection to _anything_. Her heart began to pound in her chest.

 _Eranthis hyemalis. Winter aconite._

"Don't bother, kid," came the sigh of Nessa Vasile on an opposite wall. Katia's eyes finally focused through the dark and realized it was a small, cement cell with Nessa across from her and two others on the other walls. "Whatever your poison is is all over that metal; they cuffs are saturated in it. You've already been injected with it. There is no escape."

"What the hell is this place? I have to get back to Zarya and Nova before Whitmore does who knows what to them!" The young dhampir argued with concern.

"Nova?" a soft, German accent spoke. She finally looked up, her deep blue eyes shimmering in the dark. "Romania's Nova Vasile? She is still alive?"

"Yes and yes! She escaped her parents' tyranny and fled to America."

The blue eyed girl was silent too long for Katia's liking. In truth, she was just trying to reserve whatever energy and life she had left in her. "I had heard of her in Germany… My father was notified when she abandoned her home and was labeled a traitor. My name is Anja."

Katia's dark eyes widened. "Anja Lenora Vasile?"

She nodded. "I used my mama's maiden name for some time - Von Aleshire. You can call me Lenny if you would like. She used to."

"But if you're Anja… then…" Her head turned to the other girl on the last wall. Slowly, her head lifted and her _blue_ eyes met Katia's. "C-Claudia…?"

With a grimace on her dirt caked face, she nodded. "Welcome to the party, little dhampir."

Horror struck Katia's bones. Anja had been a dhampir born to a peaceful Moroi man and his human wife in Germany. Claudia was born with the dhampir gene in her blood though nobody ever knew. Only when her Cursed Twin sister had her put under the guillotine for devil worship and witchcraft did the gene save her life. While Nessa was not a dhampir, she was however a vampire who could call upon magic, especially dark magic. All it would do is consume what humanity she had left in her. And Katia… well, Katia was a dhampir born to a Cursed Twin abandoned at birth and raped by a royal Moroi.

"Who did this…?" Her voice cracked. "Why…?" Both Anja and Claudia had been missing for centuries, presumed to either be deep in hiding or dead. Nessa had vanished after her run in in Mystic Falls.

Nessa rolled her eyes. "Come on, kid; you and Zarya are supposedly the smartest of all of us. Who snatched you up from whatever you were doing and dropped you in a dingy cell to weaken you?"

Her face contorted, nose scrunching up with disbelief. "Remiel? No, no that's not possible. And if so, why would she have been collecting us for so damn long? How long have you guys even been here?"

"Since 1876," Anja answered first with sorrow in her voice. "I could not even watch my children grow up… I was coming home from getting things in the town market when she took me away. In the middle of the street."

"1790," Claudia muttered as she looked to the cement floor. "My sister had a daughter and I made the mistake of wanting to at least see her through a window… Remiel got me before I could even lay eyes on my niece."

Tears of fear began to brim in Katia's eyes. She thought of Zarya, Nova, and her mother. What the hell was Remiel's endgame…?

* * *

It took Zarya some time to adjust to Detroit after all she had been through, but before long her colors were shining again. Lucifer would often find her passed out on the couch with some new book on lore or history from his library. More often than not she would wake up with the book on the coffee table and a blanket having been put on her. Every time without fail she would wake up and smile. Maybe the archangel wasn't so bad afterall.

She was quick, and strong. Angels and demons alike that found them one of them was taken care of in seconds. She could see the astonishment followed by pride one ambush when she grabbed his angel blade right from his hand and started stabbing. They made quite the duo and soon enough enemies just stopped trying to sneak up on them. It wasn't possible. Not with Zarya by Lucifer's side. When she was finally comfortable with her life, not even caring what the archangel could be stirring up, that was of course when it all began to fall apart.

Zarya watched Lucifer leave. She had even decided to give him a kiss on the cheek before he took off. She laid down on the couch with another book and her glasses when everything started to shake. Was it an earthquake? In Detroit, Michigan? She leaped off the couch just before the window near her shattered and dove to the floor. Her head started to pound violently causing her to clutch it tightly and scream.

" _You barely slept an hour and a half, Zarya. Are you certain you're ready for this?"_

" _Do you have a better plan then, oh psychic one?"_

" _Zare?"_

" _Rya…"_

As quickly as it all started, everything suddenly just… stopped. Fell silent. There wasn't even a bird's tweet or car engine in the background. Zarya laid where she was for a solid minute before releasing her skull or opening her eyes. When she saw shoes in front of her amongst the broken glass she jumped right up and threw her arms around the archangel. "What the hell happened?" She stepped back and looked at him but something didn't seem quite right. Why had he been so stiff when she hugged him? She took another step back. "Lucifer, what's going on?"

He sighed and rubbed his face, gaze never removing itself from the ravenette. "This is worse than I thought…"

"What are you talking about? Tell me what's going on, dammit!"

Lucifer chuckled lightly, his eyes seeming to almost get a little soft the longer he stared at her. "Well at least you've still got that mouth. That will never change, will it? Listen to me, Rya, this is all in your head."

Zarya blinked a couple of times. "I'm sorry, excuse you?"

"You've been completely off the map for days now, Rya. Whatever you've been living has not been your real life. Who did this to you? You need to remember quickly, Rya. Please."

Her eyes widened, pupils dilating as far as possible.

" _You have to survive until dusk as Nova…"_

"Nova…" She breathed. Her green-blue eyes started darting all over the apartment. She clung to the voice and the thought of Nova before dashing off into the bathroom. Lucifer called her name before following her down the hall. He stopped in the doorway of the bathroom as Zarya had a pair of scissors to her hair. She looked as if she were struggling with herself to cut the hair, her jaw set tightly. "Nova's hair…" She grit out as she forced her hand to her own raven locks. "It's short… and I…" Finally the scissors cut off a giant chunk of her hair, leaving the rest to her shoulder. A smirk spread across her face as her eyes lit up with fire before she hastily chopped the rest of. When she was done, she turned to him with her short hair just like Nova Vasile's. "I was trying to bust Nova out of Whitmore House with Katia and I had to look like Nova. So I had to cut my hair like Nova did. What the hell is going on?"

Lucifer's lips pulled towards a prideful smirk of his own. "What happened when you went to Whitmore? They have to have you sedated or compelled because this is all make believe to keep you tame inside your head."

Her eyes widened as she remembered. "I was kicking ass until they got me… They stuck me with this needle full of some yellowy-white looking liquid."

His expression then mimicked hers which heightened her concern. He stormed back down the hallway with Zarya in tow and tried to put the windows back in place to no avail. "The fucking irony…" He muttered with anger boiling in his tone. "Since you had to be Nova, I'm sure you were also warned about her weakness being _atropa belladonna_ , correct?"

"Deadly Nightshade, yeah. What of it? Those Whitmore bastards knew mine…?"

" _Datura inoxia_." Lucifer answered grimly before turning to face her. "Devil's trumpet. So since I made it into your mind to try and find you, now I'm stuck here with you unable to do a damn thing."

Zarya's face deadpanned, her lips twitching with annoyance. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. I'm stuck here with you?!"

"Oh, forgive me for trying to make sure you weren't _deceased_ when I couldn't feel you anymore!"

"Then stop making it your concern whether or not I turn up 'deceased'!"

"Maybe I will the day you suddenly decide you want to be a dhampir!"

She balled her fists and let out a scream before hitting him repeatedly in the chest. Lucifer just took it, seeing the tears well in her eyes. As she finally slowed to a stop her small hands just clutched his shirt tightly while she sobbed. "We're never gonna get out of here…"

"Sure we will," he told her quietly before hesitantly putting his hands on her upper arms. "Sam and Dean… they'll come and get you. Even if you told them not to."

She looked up at him, still gripping his shirt tightly with tears running down her cheeks. "Dean made a move on Cain." Lucifer's brows raised at the statement. "One way or another, we are on our own."

"Come on, Rya," he gently made her release his shirt so he could step away from her and walk towards the kitchen. "Since when do you doubt the Winchesters? Doubt Dean? He'd probably take out all of the demons in Hell just to find you."

She stormed into the kitchen behind him. The tears in her eyes had turned angry with guilt. "Then tell me why the fuck I have been _here_ , slaying angels and demons alike for _you_!" He spun and met her eyes with astonishment across his countenance. Before he could open his mouth she was continuing her little tirade. "Tell me why," her voice began to shake, eyes clamped shut as the memory resurfaced, "I killed Dean with my gun here after he shot you with the Goddamn Colt."

The gunshot echoed through her mind. It had been one of the things she was originally crying about in the living room and then Lucifer had to go and throw Dean's name around. The same phrase haunted her, only that time the pain drove her to vengeance.

" _Dean Winchester shot a gun called the Colt in an attempt to kill me. All it did was kill the human soul inside."_

Sam and Dean had gone to the apartment in an attempt for Sam to say 'yes' so they could use the Horsemen's rings to the Cage. She had been on the couch reading with Lucifer in the library working on whatever. Bacchus let them in eagerly and as soon as Zarya laid eyes on them she drew her revolver. Without hesitation she shot Sam in the leg, knocking him to the floor. Lucifer had come out clapping slowly. The words faded from her mind as the second bullet rang out, lodging deeply into Dean's chest before he could even draw his gun.

"I ki- I killed him," Zarya cried with her hands in her hair. "I killed Dean…"

Without a second thought Lucifer pulled her close and held her tight. "No you didn't," he told her as calmly as he could force himself to. "Not the real Dean. None of this is real, Rya. None of it. You see how it's all gone now? Just you and me left? You get out of here and you'll make it home to… your Dean."

She had stopped sobbing although the tears continued to fall silently. Part of her could actually _feel_ how much it seemed to genuinely hurt him to say what he had. She tried so hard to keep thinking back to the engravement forever scarred on her side, but it became increasingly difficult the longer she remained held to him. The hunter in her, the part that was always so loyal to Sam and Dean, she screamed as loud as she could for Zarya to just step away. Yet she seemed to make no sound at all, forcibly mute as Zarya's arms clasped around Lucifer tightly for some kind of safety.


	30. Who Do You Love When You've Come Undone?

30: Who Do You Love, When You've Come Undone?

Thunder boomed loudly outside suddenly, prompting the two to separate without letting go of one another. Their attention jumped out through the shattered windows where the sky was darkening ominously. A chill crept up Zarya's spine in a way that felt like frozen razor blades. Her pupils dilated to the max, taking away almost all of the color to her irises. She twitched subtly, finally earning the archangel's attention from the sudden storm brewing outside.

" _Odnauk een euk-zaabu fre'aazh Urshtoeth Shenesh zahomblar. Odnauk een amad en Nebratron sproshkata ratsni wosser khur terei ointso. Etsoo latwen ibibgordak en bezhdirfi yak esee roidakh euk-erahu mebaaken. Etsi hunak non kareenkhe dünasse. Ye eni. Ye enis…_ "

"Rya!" Lucifer shouted, grabbing her face gently. He knew those words clear as day. It had to be Nova's doing, but how and why? He tried to break Zarya from the trance with no success as the storm grew violent outside. "Dammit, Nova! What you've done is too dangerous! Come on, Rya…"

Zarya's pupils constricted rapidly and she let out a loud cry of pain, her hands flying to her skull. She could feel her heart beating so hard she feared it might actually crack a couple of bones or explode. It started off faintly, but the sounds of people screaming and bones snapping were creeping into her hearing. She could still feel Lucifer's hands on hers as her head throbbed. It felt as if she was being sucked back into reality through a woodchipper. She gasped when her inner elbows cut open and suddenly began to bleed.

"Nova made a call," Lucifer told her while she could focus. "I don't know how she knew to or why she made the attempt in your state, but it's forcing you to merge back into your body. Looks like Nova just tore IVs out of both of your arms."

" _Come on, it's time to wake up. Zarya! Zarya listen to me and wake the hell up!"_

Zarya groaned when she heard Nova's voice echo around her. "Nova, get the hell out of my head!" She shouted before another surge of pain. Wind howled violently outside, shattering whatever was left for windows.

"This is the part where you go home, Rya," Lucifer half smiled at her, trying to talk louder than the storm. "Go home and survive."

The wind tried to pull her towards the open window but she found herself unable to let go of his hands, feet still planted firmly on the floor. "I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this…" She admitted.

"A lot longer than you think, Rya. Let go." His brows raised when he felt her grip tighten instead.

"I don't think I can…"

With one final, harsh pull, Zarya was ripped out of the window into the storm with a loud shriek. Before the remainder of the crevice in her mind crumbled, Lucifer took one last look around. His gaze ended on the open window Zarya had been sucked through, watching the buildings fall to pieces. A sly, devilish smirk made its way to his face before he vanished, leaving everything to shatter.

* * *

Sam looked curiously at the unknown number calling him before answering. "Hello?" Dean arched a brow from the driver's seat of the Impala.

"It's Elena Gilbert," the doe eyed vampire started hesitantly. "Damon gave me your brother's number but he kind of… well, he's a bit intimidating. So I called Lethia and she found me your number instead."

The younger brother suppressed the chuckle as best as he could. Glancing over he noticed Dean frowning, still able to hear. "You have an update then, Elena?"

"Yeah, and it's not a very good one… there was a giant 'accident' at Whitmore House. Dozens of bodies are being wheeled out. Some labeled an 'accidental drowning' when one of the evidently freezing water mains exploded, and others an 'animal attack'. But Zarya's car… it's still in the lot surrounding Whitmore House."

The brothers were silent for a minute before Sam finally found his voice again. "Thanks, Elena. We're headed towards Virginia now." He hung up, not entirely caring if the vampire had more to say or not. "You think that was Clarke and Nova's doing?"

"Zero tact and bodies dropped? Oh yeah, definitely."

"What do we do then? They're out there somewhere after dealing with who knows what. That leaves them both vulnerable to Remiel, Lucifer, that Silas guy, and who knows who else."

"And Nova still has her humanity in the dark," Dean added with his eyes focused on the road ahead. "We do exactly what we always do when we get separated, Sammy. You said it yourself - she's out there somewhere."

Sam scoffed lightly as they pulled into a gas station. "First motel in the phone book? Really? You honestly think Clarke's still gonna do that?"

"We're gonna find out."

* * *

Zarya was barely conscious as she was dragged into the woods. She realized Nova was supporting her on her right, and who was probably another Vasile judging by her features supporting her on her left. When she could finally feel her legs she tried her hardest to walk so the two would have a bit less to do. They had to be halfway into the woods when they finally all collapsed against trees. She was realizing how difficult it still was to breathe.

"What the hell happened?" Her scratchy voice finally broke the silence. "And where's Katia?"

Nova's brows furrowed. "Katia was with you?"

"She was supposed to get you while I distracted the guards. When they caught me I told her to bail and as far as I saw she did." Zarya then turned to their mystery survivor. "And you are…?"

The girl smiled softly with her knees to her chest. "Clara Vasile. Augustine took me in 1907 after my sister tried to kill me and I returned."

"Do you by chance know who your sire is?" The Romanian asked.

Clara blinked a couple of times. "Oh, you misunderstand. I'm… I'm not a full blood. I'm only a dhampir."

The hunter's eyes widened and blinked a few times. "You… you're a dhampir?" She spoke first with a shakiness in her breathy tone. "A dhampir born just carrying the gene until you died?"

Clara stared at her with uncertainty in her onyx eyes, but the longer she took in the girl's features the more she began to realize. Zarya was seeming to recuperate faster than Nova was, though Clara figured Zarya may have endured less as well. "You bear the curse as well, is that why you ask?"

"Yeah," Nova answered with a slight groan. "One of our latest plot twists. This whole family has got to be the biggest secret filled with lies." She rolled her eyes. "We can play catch up and Two Truths One Lie later if you ladies would really like, but how about we try and get the hell out of the forest that's probably about to be swarming with Augustine creeps just itching to drag us back?"

"Point taken," Zarya muttered. "What are we supposed to do then? We're in the middle of who the fuck knows where with no means of communication and no idea who we can trust with Silas running around."

"Who is Silas…?" Clara asked quietly.

"That's for catch up, kid." Nova replied before trying to pull herself to her feet. "Silas screws with you using psychic power, right? We can trust anyone with a higher psychic power than him. High enough to keep him out of their mind. And since you don't know where Katia fucked off to…"

"Zina?" The hunter figured. She gave a small shrug. "Okay, I guess that's reasonable… but how do we find her or contact her? You aren't running anywhere anytime soon and if anyone so much as sees us we're open bait for Augustine or Silas."

"I just need to find someone who isn't full of vervain and I'll be good to go." Slowly, Zarya's hand began to raise. Nova rolled her eyes again. "First of all, not a chance. If I sent you back to those Winchesters with fang marks anywhere on your body, I'm getting a stake to the chest. Second, your blood is still full of-"

"Devil's trumpet," Zarya sighed. "I know. It put me in this dream-like state. Everything was fake and quiet until…" Oh, God, she didn't want to say it. A hand on her shoulder made her jump and look up to see Nova kneeling beside her.

"Try not to think about it or allow it to hinder you." She gave Zarya's shoulder a small squeeze before rising again.

 _Are you starting to find your humanity somewhere, Nova…?_ The hunter wondered.

"If there is a river nearby," came Clara's soft and melodic voice, "we can follow the current and it will take us to the next town."

Zarya looked up to Nova. "What about when the sun eventually rises…?"

Nova's eyes widened, hand flying to her neck and chest. Her daylight necklace was gone. That Maxfield bastard had taken it. "I guess we're just going to have to hope the nightshade didn't entirely ruin my adapted protection from burning."

The mostly human sweatdropped. "Yeah, real comforting."

* * *

"You are late," Saskia hissed as she tapped one of her long, pointed black nails on a wood table.

"Well I had to wait for Damon to take off with the doppelgangers," came Auriel Cressida's voice as she emerged through the darkness. As she emerged into the candlelight, brunette waves went tumbling down her shoulders, her honey colored irises beaming in the delicate light. Light freckles danced across her cheeks and nose. "You know how miserable Qetsiyah has always been in her planning. I could have given the doppelgangers such a simple dream hours prior. Were you able to acquire what I asked for?"

Saskia took the vial from her sleeve that Wes Maxfield had given her in exchange for Nova. "From their test work on what must be little Clara Vasile. And my daughter?"

"Currently en route with Zina to retrieve Nova, Zarya, and Clara." She held her slender hand out for the vial. "Now she knows it was her darling Elijah to find a faction of my former coven willing to put her under the same curse daddy dearest once asked me to." She smirked.

The old Vasile nodded as she slowly handed off the vial. "Should this spell activate little Zarya's dhampir gene buried within?"

"You know," the witch snatched the vial away swiftly, "I've been wondering the same myself. I look so forward to finding out."

* * *

Zarya loathed having to sit in between Nova and Clara in the back of the Mustang. She was forced to stare forward out the windshield as best as she could see. After a while she tuned out the meek conversations her ancestors were trying to pass around. Her brain kept trying bounce Dean and Lucifer back and forth like a terrible tennis game. The mirrored Mark singed beneath the sleeve of Nova's blouse she was still wearing. Her eyes caught a sign saying there was a gas station coming up.

"Can we make a stop?" She jumped in suddenly.

"What for?" Nova practically groaned.

Zarya frowned directly at the vampire to her right. "Still a human for now, you know. It's not like creepy doctor Maxfield had me hooked up to a catheter too."

Zina and Clara chuckled. Daciana smiled playfully when she glanced at the hunter in her mirror again. When the car stopped Clara was kind enough to step out so Zarya could head inside. She did make a pit stop at the bathroom, but as soon as she was out she grabbed a thick, yellow phone book. Before she even opened it she saw Nova exit the Mustang and sighed a little. They had to be a safe enough distance away and she had been stuck in a car of vampires. Before she could ask the cashier if she could use a phone, Nova waltzed in with a napkin to her lips. Zarya sweatdropped.

"You need anything, kid?" The Romanian asked after she compelled herself a pack of cigarettes. She glanced down at the yellow book in Zarya's hands. "Phone call?" She smirked and leaned back over the counter to compel the clerk to hand over a phone. "Just do me a solid and don't try bringing those kill first, questions later hunter boys of yours out here."

Zarya made a face up at her. _Jeeze, even without heels you're a freaking giant,_ she thought. "I'm looking to get my car towed off of Whitmore's lot before they do it and the car is theirs."

"Wise idea. Tell them to send it to the Salvatore Boarding House in Mystic Falls."

Her face paled. "W-why…?"

Nova looked down at her slightly dumbfounded. "Because that's where we're going for now, kid. Is it going to be an issue?"

 _Yes, because I have to make sure our driver's father didn't brutally murder Sam and Dean and walk off with the First friggen Blade!_ She screamed in her head. _Oh good God would that make Dean a-_

"Nope," she faked a small smile. "Not as long as I get my car. It was my mom's originally."

The Romanian vampire smirked. "Sentimental. How cute. Just don't take too long; we're still about half an hour away from town."

Once Nova was out of the store, Zarya did dial a towing company for her coup deVille, but she made a second call immediately after. She flipped the pages all the way to the first couple where she found the number for the first motel listed. Thankfully it was only about another half an hour out of Mystic Falls.

"Yes, hello, my name is Maxine Deighton and I was wondering if I could reserve a room for sometime tomorrow?"

* * *

The Impala rolled up into the motel parking lot early in the afternoon. "Are you sure she would come here?" Sam asked skeptically as they got out of the car.

"The book was for basically all of Virginia," Dean answered, leading the way into the lobby. "This is the first motel listed." He shrugged and walked up to the clerk with a smile. "My brother and I are supposed to meeting our sister in town, but she wasn't very specific about which motel she was crashing at. I was wondering if there was a uh… Maxine Deighton here?"

Sam's brow raised curiously. As the woman typed, he nudged his brother who merely shrugged. "It says here she's not due in until later today but she does have a room reserved. Would you like for me to leave her a message so she can contact you when she arrives?"

The brothers couldn't believe Dean had been correct in which alias Zarya would use or that she even found the first motel in the phone book. Dean stuttered for a moment until an idea struck him. "Uh, yes, actually," his smile returned. "When she checks in, can you tell her to meet us at the Boulevard Burger and Brew?"

The woman smiled back up at him after writing it down on a sticky note. "I'll pass the message along. Have a nice day."

As they walked back to the car, Sam was baffled. "Are we seriously about to go sit at some burger place for who knows how long in the _hope_ that Clarke will show up?"

"She will, Sammy," Dean grinned as he got back into the driver's seat. "I'm pretty sure I'm on a roll right now, so I'm gonna say she shows up in like… two hours tops. I saw a sign for this place on the way through and I have a hunch she will have too."

"Okay, but how could you have guessed which alias she would use? She could have used one of her FBI names."

"Yeah, but not a damn person is looking for anyone in the Deighton family anymore. Zare's a full blown Vasile on the radar now."

"Fine, but Maxine?"

He shrugged. "It's her first middle name." His lips twitched towards a playful smirk. "And the one she used when she was a stripper."

Sam rubbed his face. "You two are ridiculous."

* * *

Zarya waited impatiently at the boarding house for her car to be dropped off. Nova had already been sure to take care of any charges when it did before returning to the memoryless Stefan situation. Patiently Zarya waited until everyone was up in arms about Auriel going missing from her room. She started to plot her own escape when Clara let out a brutal cry of pain. She jumped up from the bed she had been sitting on to rush to the scene unfolding in Clara's room.

"What's going on?" She inquired when she caught up to Zina and Daciana. The Original was holding Clara down while Zina tried to look in her head.

"Somebody is trying to fry her brain worse than Qetsiyah tried on Silas," Zina answered hastily. "Except… I think…" Her eyes widened, then Zarya began screaming.

"Oh, God!" She groaned with her hands clutching her skull tightly. "What the fuck is this?!"

Blood dripped slowly from Clara's nose and ears as she wailed. "I can hear them!" She sobbed. "They are killing us!"

"Who's killing who now?" Nova shouted when she walked in the room.

Zarya's back slammed into a wall, her eyes desperately trying to focus on at least the ceiling of the bedroom. No matter how hard she tried it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Her heart was beating rapidly inside of her chest. Nova stormed over to her and tried to get a better look at her when Zarya started to choke on a lack of air. The three vampires then smelled blood. Zarya's green-blue eyes met Nova's emerald ones and her bottom lip trembled as tears welled in her eyes. Her side was bleeding through the plain, grey long sleeve Nova had given her to change into. The only upside to the scars on her ribs bleeding was that it seemed to be sucking the pain away from her head.


	31. Your God Cares Not Afterall

31: Your God Cares Not Afterall.

Katia could hear Auriel's chanting scratching her brain horrifically. She muttered her own counters while using whatever psychic ability she could conjure to protect herself. Both dhampirs on her sides were screaming in agony with no way to even attempt in defending herself. Katia realized then what was happening and flipped the direction of her counters. Nessa began to panic and tug at her restraints hopelessly. She looked at the dhampirs suffering around her; someone was trying to kill the line of them. Her eyes landed on Katia who seemed to be taking the mental ambush the best of the three. Her heart ached for the youngest creatures still amongst them.

"I can help you, Katia," she called hastily to the dhampir.

Her onyx eyes snapped open with tears. She shook her head furiously. "No; Zarya."

Nessa's eyes widened with surprise. _The last human of the Vasiles with dhampir blood latched onto her core…_ She bit her lip until it nearly bled before nodding in agreement. It would keep the four of them safe from Remiel's selfish plots, and shield young Zarya at least a little longer from the darkness of their lineage. Nessa began loudly chanting her own protective counters so Katia's voice grew louder. Blood seeped from Anja and Claudia's noses and ears. Nessa's emerald eye slowly darkened with each word. Katia ignored the blood dripping from her mouth as she chanted. She didn't even realize that her eyes also dripped with blood.

As she focused on Zarya, directing her protection to the hunter, Katia still thought of Zina. She wished she could have had more time to at least talk just once. She knew what her mother had endured; she knew Zina had her reasons for fleeing. _If only she had gotten the chance to tell her mom she understood…_

Tears flowed from Nessa's eyes while she thought of her aunt. She could feel the light leaving her eye. Why hadn't she just stayed with Adina? Why hadn't she tried to find Adina when she knew - because she knew - that she wasn't going to snap and lose it? _I guess I will see you from the Other Side now, auntie…_ she thought as blood came from her mouth too.

* * *

Zarya awoke with a start on her bed at the boarding house. She sat up and reached quickly for her scarred side. The grey shirt had been exchanged with a black one, but the scars remained closed and unharmed beneath the fabric. A ringing pain surged through her head as she tried to stand up. She stumbled a bit, catching herself on the nightstand, when she heard them clearer than she should have.

" _It was a psychic link,"_ she heard Zina trying to explain. " _Meaning the magic linked Clara, seemingly Zarya, and whoever else."_

" _Come on, sister,"_ Nova taunted tactlessly. " _What did Clara and Zarya have in common? Who else of us likely have the same feat about them?"_

Daciana gasped. " _You don't think…"_

" _Clara was a dhampir. Zarya carries the gene for when she dies suddenly. How many other dhampirs are - or, were - still alive?"_

Zarya froze as Zina accidently let a sob of realization loose. " _Katia…"_

The hunter put a hand to her mouth as to not make any noise before leaning against a wall with tears in her eyes. Someone just killed off the link of dhampirs with Vasile blood. Oddly enough to calm her nearingly irriatic vital signs, Zarya focused on putting the pieces together. Saskia traded Nova for a vial of Maxfield's dhampir research presumably acquired from Clara's blood. Saskia had used Riel in her attempt to retrieve Nova, leaving Riel behind, but Riel vanished from her comatose at the boarding house. Her eyes widened with horror.

Zarya dashed to the window while tuning out Zina's growing cries and her back and forth with Nova and Daciana. Damon's Camaro was gone but no sign of Elena or Stefan either. Her Coup de Ville was behind Nova's Firebird. She looked to the closed door before sliding on a pair of boots Daciana had found for her. With the vampires safely distracted and mourning their losses in their odd ways, Zarya silently unlocked the latch to the window. She looked down with dozens of thoughts swirling around quickly through her mind. It was only the second floor, there was a safe amount grass, and it was all directly beside her car. Boldly enough, she leaped out of the window. She hit the walkway first, tucking and rolling onto the grass until she was on her feet. Without so much as checking around, Zarya jumped into the de Ville and grabbed the set of spare keys from her glove box. The engine roared to life before she backed out and sped down the road with adrenaline surging through her veins.

* * *

Remiel stared down at the four corpses still chained to the walls with her mouth agape. Slowly her jaw closed until it was clenched tightly. Rage burned brightly in her pitch black eyes. The toll of her power was beginning to wear away at Runa's body. Saskia had succeeded in murdering all of the dhampirs still walking the Earth. If it hadn't been so infuriating to her plan then Remiel could have admired it. Instead, she ripped each of them down and dragged their bodies out by the chains carrying two in each hand.

Down in the depths of the Cage, Lucifer could feel his sister's wrath. He knew they would figure a way to get at least Katia back if they cared enough, but he also knew that Remiel would find every possible way to ruin it. She was finally aware that she no longer had a direct link to Zarya for _anything_. She also found out that it was her beloved brother's protection over the girl. He had marked her. Shielded her from Remiel indefinitely. Not even Saskia's attempt to destroy all of the dhampirs could penetrate Lucifer's protection over Zarya.

Remiel used the four dhampir's bodies to form a magic circle with herself in the middle. Using blood magic she was able to see through one of the veils straight to her brother with blinding rage. "What have you done, brother?" She seethed.

He stared down at her with an icy poker face. "I did what I had to do when I realized where this was going, Remiel."

"So you protect her?!" The young archangel shouted so loudly it shook the trees. "She is _my_ vessel, brother! The Vasiles are _my_ lineage! _My_ legacy!"

"No, Remiel. You've been no different than dear old Dad watching your story get big while manipulating whatever you need to achieve the means to the end _you_ desire. All the Vasiles are to you is an immortal army. Do you know why your own daughter just massacred a chunk of them? So you can't touch them! Not even Saskia wants to see you succeed anymore."

"Saskia is even more selfish than you seem to think I am. But isn't that what this has always been about? The selfishness of you and I?"

"Don't you dare drag me into your mess this time, Remiel." Her eyes widened with shock. "I refused to bow to Dad's humans so you think I'll be cordial about your line of super creatures? All you have managed to do is merge your ideals with Dad's and still screw it up badly enough for _me_ to fix. It's only a matter of time before the Vasiles aren't even yours anymore Remiel."

She twitched a little, mostly at his common use of her full name rather than her nickname. She stared at him with an icy glare through cut eyes. "This is because of _her_ ," she hissed. "You turned an eye to everything because, why? It wasn't amusing enough for you at first? So boring you could barely remember the beginning of the story. But what was it that got you to pay attention then I wonder?"

"Watch your tone, Remiel."

"No, Lucifer," she snapped back coldly, "I do not think I will." She stepped to the edge of her circle though she was still at least a foot away from his projection. "What I do think, however, is that you have hampered and bamboozled what I was accomplishing because you care for the girl."

It was difficult, but he kept his face from showing any sort of response to the accusation. "So desperate that you're fishing for excuses now. You've lost, Remiel. Take it with grace."

"And yet I have never been more correct." She shook her head slowly with betrayal lingering in her eyes. "You saved her life when Katerina ran Siya's vehicle off of the road because somehow she got sent down to you rather than the Other Side where she belonged."

"That's enough, Remiel." He cut his eyes at her with his own anger boiling.

She didn't cease in the slightest, continuing on with her tirade. " _You_ tipped the scales. You imprinted on her before sending her back." Her eyes were wide with fury. "Why?" She snarled through grit teeth.

"I'm not doing this, Re-"

" _Why?!_ " Her voice shook the trees again, knocking a couple down. "What drew you of everyone to a simple human girl?! She is nothing like me!"

"That's why!" Lucifer finally shouted back. "Because Zarya Vasile is _better_ than you, Remiel. She is everything you could have been and so much more if you weren't trying so desperately to be queen bee. You want to know why Zarya came to me? Because Siya was _that_ desperate for her daughter to live. She had found out all she needed to know about you and how the Vasiles came to be and would you look at who she trusted in her time of need? _Me!_ She trusted me with her daughter's life so long as I kept it the hell away from _you_!"

Remiel's eye twitched. Her fists clenched at her sides. "Then you can watch the little human you love so dearly submit to me and become _nothing_."

* * *

Zarya whipped right up to the front of the motel and parked before dashing inside. "Maxine Deighton," she said as she caught her breath. "I called yesterday?"

The desk clerk smiled kindly at her. "Oh yes, I have your reservation ready Miss Deighton. Your brothers were here about 45 minutes prior and they left this message for you." She handed Zarya the sticky note reading Boulevard Burger and Brew. "Miss Cressida also congratulates you on your survival and has this message for you."

"Miss C-" Zarya looked up in time to witness the clerk take a letter opener and slit her own throat. Her green-blue eyes widened with horror. She took a step back and walked into someone. When she turned to face them, the man's eyes were black and dripping with blood. She punched him as hard as she could in his chest, knocking him a few feet away. She raced back to the door only to be grabbed by two others looking the same. "Sorry fellas, but I saw a billboard for Boulevard Burger and Brew and I am not letting friggen Riel stop me."

With all her might she threw herself backwards and over the two men. The first one had gotten off the floor and charged for her. Zarya reacted quickly with a first to his nose that time. The sound of the bone cracking barely distracted her before she turned on the other two. The first dropped to the ground unmoving. She took her revolver from the back of her pants (because the smartest thing she had done in a while was leave it in the glove box) and swiftly shot both pursuers before sprinting back to her car. She zoomed through the town with the Mark itching at her arm, focusing on the signs until she reached Boulevard Burger and Brew. There was a significant amount of cars in the lot, but it was far too easy for her to find the Impala with relief.

She practically stumbled in the door with shaking legs. The hostess tried to talk to her, but Zarya was too busy scanning the dining room for Sam and Dean. As soon as she spotted them, she apologized to the hostess and ran directly into the dining room. Dean had his back to the front of the restaurant so it was Sam who saw the girl running and ducking through waitresses and trays toward them. "Clarke!" He exclaimed, his fork dropping onto his plate of salad. Dean immediately choked down the mouthful of burger and jumped to his feet. As soon as he turned around arms flung around him.

"Thank God you're alright," Dean exhaled as he held Zarya tightly against him. Once he let her go she darted to Sam and embraced him just the same. She turned back to Dean and they noticed tears welling in her eyes before she flung herself at him again. "Hey, hey, you're safe now, Zare. It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"You're both still alive," the ravenette sobbed into his chest with relief. "You're both alive…"

The brothers exchanged wary glances. "Come on, Clarke," Sam offered with a peaceful smile, "why don't you sit and eat something? Relax and we can catch up, okay? The important thing is that we're all here, right? We all made it."

Zarya agreed and sat between the brothers at their table. Dean hailed their waitress over to order her the Mr. Moe burger with bacon and Whatever Floats Your Boat milkshake. "I know it's not absinthe," Dean teased her, "but it's a root beer float with whiskey!"

She smiled softly. "Listen, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna down a bottle of whiskey to my face when we get back to Lebanon."

"You aren't sticking around to find out what's going on?" Sam inquired.

"Yeah, you even cut your hair and everything," Dean added as he reached out and twirled a lock of her short hair around his finger. "We don't mind swinging through and-"

"No," she cut him off, "I want to go home." Her voice started to shake. "Saskia… she… she found a way to murder all of the living Vasile dhampirs… including Katia…"

Their eyes widened. "How the hell did she do that?" Dean exclaimed. "Last we knew the bitch was practically on her deathbed!"

Zarya exhaled a deep breath and rubbed her face. "Saskia traded Nova for some dhampir research at Whitmore… that dhampir research was made from Clara Vasile's blood because she'd apparently been there a while… Riel was able to do the spell with that vial. It fried every dhampir. I don't… I don't even know where Katia ended up after I told her to bail and now she's dead."

The waitress dropped off her plate and milkshake, and to keep from crying Zarya started stuffing her face. "I don't understand why Riel would do a spell like that for Saskia though," Sam finally commented.

"My guess is that they've been working together," Zarya spoke with food packed into her cheek. She swallowed before continuing. "I guess she had been at the boarding house after Saskia caused the accident to kidnap Nova. She made off with Nova and left Riel at the scene but by time we got there, the witch who was supposedly unconscious was just gone without a trace. She's the one who woke Daciana from the spell that kept her subdued and frozen for however many centuries. She turned Lethia into a hybrid with magic."

"But Lucifer was just using her as a suit," Dean spoke. "How do we know-"

"He's not," she snapped rather harshly. "It's Auriel. I don't think she went running from her coven and I don't think she coincidentally ended up working with me in Pike Creek. I think she was kicked out because she's a bad egg."

"Saskia could have compelled her," Sam offered.

She shook her head. "I would have liked to think that too until I got to the motel. The receptionist gave me your message but then told me I had another from a 'Miss Cressida' - she congratulated me for surviving and then the receptionist slit her own throat with a letter opener. Before I could make it out the door three guys with black and bleeding eyeballs tried to stop me."

"What did you do?"

"What I had to. I didn't know what they were, only that Auriel put some spell on them to try and kill me so I killed them first."

Beneath the table Zarya scratched at the mirrored Mark of Cain burning on her arm.

* * *

"Your body can't take much more, Saskia," Auriel commented.

"I am aware," the ravenette answered slightly hoarsely from a rocking chair next to a fireplace. "What of Zarya? Did she survive or did she turn?"

"She was likely going to survive regardless, but it seems she is very well protected."

"What does that mean?"

"It appears that Lucifer has taken a great interest in her. When he had control of my body I tried to ignore it thinking it was just torture, but at one point of breaking her he took his angel blade and… well, he quite literally carved his sigil into her flesh. While it seemed he was just claiming ownership and dominance, the sigil is actually a very powerful warding. And so when I began the spell, Nessa was able to direct her magic towards that link while Katia was doing the same. Nessa, Katia, and Lucifer were able to form a trifecta of protection around Zarya leaving her unscathed from my spell or Remiel."

Saskia chuckled with a faint smirk as she stared at the flames. "Remiel must be infuriated," she commented. "The brother she loved so dearly having turned his back on her plots for the human version of herself essentially. What a magnificent annoyance Zarya has turned out to be. That settles it then, I suppose."

"Are you certain that Zarya will follow that path? She could still easily deviate; she is a fickle girl afterall."

"No she isn't, not really. She cares for Dean Winchester, of course. She is supposed to. But in the end she will never truly be able to walk away from Lucifer. And I'm counting on that."

"So we continue onward to the next phase?"

"Why don't you go set up some bread crumbs to the Book of the Damned for them first?"

* * *

Sam and Dean chose not to catch Zarya up on what she had missed being kidnapped at Whitmore. They were just glad to have her back safely. As soon as they saw her asleep peacefully in her bed at the bunker, they closed the door and walked away. Unbenounced to them, though, Zarya was not asleep even a little bit. When the door shut her eyes opened, but she didn't get out of bed until she heard their footfalls vanish.

Zarya went to put her hair into a bun as she usually would, sighing when she realized she no longer could. She changed into spandex shorts that covered half of her thighs and the sports bra she would wear to train. Carefully she opened her door as to not make any noise, then crept her way into one of the back rooms where training equipment laid. Shoving headphones into her ears Zarya blared music and started rapidly beating on the punching bag barehanded. The Mark scorched against her pale skin, but not much more than Lucifer's sigil on her side. She thought about losing Katia, and her foot swung up and kicked the bag so hard it scraped her skin. Zarya didn't even notice; she just kept punching.

" _Go home and survive."_

Her jaw clenched before her right fist barrelled down on the bag. Just like her foot, added on top of all of the punching she had already been doing, the skin of her knuckle shredded backwards. Blood dripped onto the cement floor but she didn't even notice. She just kept punching until her other knuckle started to bleed too.

She would _never_ say 'yes' to Remiel. She refused to be taken by anyone else. And she would be damned if anyone else she cared about died for her sake.

Zarya Vasile stormed ahead on the path of rebellion with her clan's blood scorching through her veins.


	32. My Brain is Scattered

32: My Brain is Scattered.

After Sam left for his fancy French movie neither Dean nor Zarya had any interest in, Dean knocked on her door. She greeted the flash of concern on his face with a smile; she had been sitting in front of her laptop with her glasses on again. If her hair wasn't so short no doubt it would have been in a bun. "I'm just checking headlines for anything unusual, don't worry," she laughed lightly.

Dean nodded stiffly. "I'm going to the bar for a bit. Wanted to see if you wanted to come with."

"Thanks, but, maybe next time? I'm just not feeling it today. Headlines are lame so I'm thinking nap." She grinned.

He lightened up a little and offered her a half smile. "Maybe Sammy and I should try that sometime. Alright, then I'll bring back pizza so don't go trying to burn the bunker down for a grilled cheese."

"I burned one pan and you act like it's the end of the entire kitchen!"

Once he was gone and the door shut behind him, Zarya returned to her computer screen. Across it displayed was not headlines, but access into the dark web that Lethia gave her. Sam and Dean had asked her how she took Katia's death in particular since they had started getting close. She couldn't bring herself to tell them how much it actually hurt her and how she was going to brutally murder whoever did it, so instead she just insisted she would be alright. Without Zina's bracelet, Zarya decided to see if there was a spell that could allow her to at least call upon someone's spirit on the Other Side. She needed to know what the dhampir knew for so long, and she needed to know what happened in the end.

It didn't take as long as she thought it would have to find one, let alone having everything at the bunker. She scribbled everything down quickly on a piece of paper before closing out and shutting off the laptop. She bee-lined for the basement and started grabbing everything. At first Zarya thought she screwed up somewhere. The match's fire erupted a deep blue when she tossed it in last, but nothing else happened. She ran her hands through her hair, the shortness adding some frustration to the situation. She was ready to go back upstairs.

"You really are the smartest of our family, aren't you, Zarya?"

The hunter whipped around at the door to meet Katia's dark eyes. As much as she just wanted to run over and hug her, Zarya knew that wasn't part of the spell. All Katia was was a ghost. "What happened to you?" She finally found the voice to say.

"Remiel happened. I don't know how much time your spell allows me away from the Other Side so I'm going to have to get straight to the point of everything. Do you understand? Are you ready for that?"

"Why does it sound like you're about to unload a whole boat load of bullshit onto me?"

The dhampir shrugged with a solemn and grave look on her face. "Because I basically am. As I fled from Whitmore I tried to call my mother, Zina. I was stolen away as I ran and when I awoke I was captive with two other dhampirs of our clan and Nessa."

"Nessa? Why Nessa? Who were the other two?"

"Anja Lenora and Claudia. They had been held there for at least a century and a half each."

"Fuck," Zarya cursed loudly. "Apparently Clara was at Whitmore this whole time. The family of creepy doctors experiment on vampires so why not a dhampir?"

"And that is why they wanted you - because you carry the gene dormantly in your blood cells. Their research from Clara is what was given to Saskia who has been working with Auriel to fry every one of us with the gene attached. Now, before the Mark of Cain sends you into a red rage, it was because Remiel was prepared to use every one of us for vessels until she got hold of you which is proving painfully difficult for her."

"Yeah, it's going to stay that way. She's getting the same 'fuck you, no' her brother got repeatedly."

Katia blinked a couple of times and then she realized. "Zarya… you misunderstand. Remiel can't find you because of the warding put on you."

"What warding?" The dhampir timidly pointed to her side where the scars laid beneath her shirt. She chuckled darkly. "No. That's not warding. That was a torture technique."

"Were you going to say 'yes' after?"

"Absolutely the fuck not."

"So," Katia stepped closer knowing nothing could be done since she was a ghost, "in essence, no amount of torture would make you say it to anyone. Not a damn thing."

"I thought you said you had to get straight to the point of everything for the sake of time, Katia."

She sighed. "Granted, he could have done it plenty of other ways, but it really is the most effective. By unfortunately scarring it into your skin, it literally put an invisibility cloak over you to Remiel and any ties to Remiel like if she had a witch track you. So long as it ties back to her mark, her name, and her sigil, his reflects it. And even though his method was by far cruel, he made certain you would be able to handle yourself before Remiel if his warding ever failed."

Zarya's green-blue eyes were wide at the revelation. She screamed in her mind not to believe it, but the tiniest voice that told her otherwise felt so much louder. "Why the hell would he do that?" Her voice was shaky. "He _wanted_ me to say 'yes' to Remiel because he wants his sister back."

"He had to make sure you could reject anyone under any circumstances. Putting on the pressure and making you rise above the fear would make you stronger than whatever anyone else could do to you. I mean, if you've been tortured by the devil himself, what else is there really left to do to try and break you?"

She was basically forcing her breaths to be as steady as they were. Her heart was pounding in her chest. "Why would he do that?" The words came out breathless. Katia looked to her with deep emotion in her raven eyes. She shook her head. "No."

"He does care about you, Zarya."

"No!" She yanked open the door and proceeded to storm down the hall. Tears had already been brimming in her eyes.

"Zarya!" The dhampir called after her.

She stopped and spun back to her. "You can't… you can't say that shit to me because then I hear it and I think about it and everything starts making horrible, horrible sense and when that does I do stupid things. I'm also beginning to think I'm all out of small, stupid things to do. Pretty sure the next one is gonna be, like, nice and fucking stupid. And that's gonna happen if I start doubt being here." She gestured to the bunker. "And I will doubt being here, and staying with Sam and Dean, if I've got _that_ in the back of my damn head!"

"If you don't want to believe it so badly, and you don't want anything to do with so much as the thought, then why is it such an issue for you?"

"Because I have already avoided every possible encounter that could involve Dean finally admitting that he loves me because I just can't say it back to him. Not like that."

Katia watched the tears slip down Zarya's cheeks that were pink with emotion. "But with the second mark on your soul, I thought…" Zarya shook her head and the dhampir understood entirely at last. Remiel had marked Lucifer, and while he did care about her he never returned the mark. Dean loved Zarya enough that it left an impression on her soul, but nothing she returned. It was nothing she could return. Not when a claim had already been laid. "This… might anger you," she started slowly with her hands up defensively as if to say 'please-don't-kill-the-messenger', "but Lucifer's mark on your soul… it's called an 'imprint'."

Her eye twitched for a split second at the word. "A _what_?"

"It was assumed that it was a God given bond, kind of like dangling good behavior in Lucifer's face, but it seems as if Remiel's creations might be out of His jurisdiction. Obviously I don't actually know because He's kind of fucked off for so long, but it was a powerful enough mark to last entirely unaffected for so long. It's… well, it's in relation to the bond Nova and Damon share because it appears they unknowingly imprinted on one another as well…"

Zarya's hands were palm to palm, her thumbs under her chin and index fingers pressed against the tip of her nose. There was unmissable rage in her fiery eyes. "You mean to tell me that after Katherine Pierce ran my parents' car off the road which killed me, I slipped past the Other Side and wound up at the foot of the fucking Cage, just for that son of a bitch to think I was, what? So adorable and crafty that when he broke out of jail he was hoping it was when the Bonnie to his Clyde was fucking legal?"

"Zarya, I can see this has angered you, but I'm going to need you to think about the situation rather than react and-"

She was already shaking her head slowly. "Ohh no, Katia. I think I'm gonna do something pretty stupid today instead like I figured I would."

* * *

"So, back in the '50s," Sam explained as he and Cas walked towards a house, "Oliver Pryce was a kid psychic. He performed everywhere - carnivals, Atlantic City, you name it. He was the real deal. Now, the Men of Letters were teaching him how to control his powers when they got… you know."

"Brutally slaughtered," the angel offered tactlessly.

Sam shook his head a little. "The point is, he's one of the good guys. He might be happy to see us."

Cas then noticed several 'no trespassing' signs across Mr. Pryce's fence. "Or not."

The hunter boldly continued to the door and knocked loudly. "Mr. Pryce? Oliver Pryce!" He called.

"I could break it down."

"What? Dude, chill."

"What? I'm helping."

"Just follow my lead. Mr. Pryce? This is Sam-"

"Winchester," the older man snarked when he whipped open the door. "You're Sam Winchester, Man of Letters."

"Yeah… H-how did you, uh…"

"Mind reader, remember? And you're…" He looked to Castiel with widening eyes. "What are you?"

Cas looked to Sam who shrugged. "I'm an angel of the Lord."

Pryce blinked a few times. "That… No, you can't be."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm an atheist!"

Sam chuckled a little. "Not anymore."

* * *

"Zarya, you don't want to do this," Katia urged.

The hunter played with the syringe in her hand as she sat on the edge of her bed. "No, I _want_ to do this. It's quite unnecessary, but I'm sick of being kept on a leash about what I find out and why. He told me once he would never lie to me."

"So you're going to kill yourself just to hash it out with him? If you don't come back quick enough, or at all, then you will turn, Zarya. And what if the Winchesters get back while you're dead on your bed but lashing out downstairs?"

"Sam and Dean aren't going to be back for a while. I know Sam didn't go see some weird ass French movie about a mime. He's got some pretty odd taste but that was the worst cover ever just to make sure Dean didn't go with him. And Dean went to go get drunk without me so he's either going to come back entirely plastered or after a bar fight."

"But what if you don't return?"

"He'll send me back before anything happens. Especially if I'm cussing him out."

"You can make certain of that?"

She laid down, staring up at the ceiling before exhaling. "I trust him." She closed her eyes to brace herself before slamming the needle of potassium down on her chest. There was a swift, lightning-like jolt and then nothing. When her eyes opened again she was no longer in the bunker.

"Suicide doesn't look very good on you, Rya."

She jumped to her feet at the sound of his voice. "It was a shot of potassium to the heart."

"Ooh, so you came with a purpose." Even though there was a playfulness to his tone, Lucifer's face showed nothing of the sort. His arms were crossed as he watched her walk up to him. "What is it now, Rya?"

"You don't want me to say 'yes' to your dumb cunt of a sister." Zarya got to the point quickly and sharply. She noticed the way he didn't even flinch at her language.

"Now where would you get that idea? I thought I've been quite clear."

"Yeah, you have, but always in the most backhanded of ways. You put the weight on my shoulders to make sure I was strong enough to tell her 'no' regardless of what I endured because you knew what she could do to me. That alone is enough to make anyone's head spin, so let's add on _why_ in all of existence you would possibly do that."

"Because you're trying to fish for reasoning, Rya. You've looked too much into it aside from the obvious."

"You can't even bring yourself to lie about anymore, can you? You didn't even flinch when I referred to Remiel, who was once your most beloved sister, as the dumb _cunt_ that she is because you agree with it!" She had walked up so boldly that she was within arm's reach of the bars staring up at the archangel with fire burning in her eyes. "And it's because you don't want Remiel, you want _me._ "

He scoffed and looked away from her. "Someone seems to think rather highly of themselves I see. Growing more daring knowing that becoming a dhampir is on the horizon for you?"

"For the love of… drop the act already, Lucifer!" Her voice rose with the anger. She was losing whatever may have been left for calm. "Your mark on my soul wasn't a coincidence. You knew it was there because you left it there. You _imprinted_ on my soul and then did the same thing to my side!"

Lucifer slammed a hand against the bars, glaring down at her with a burning in his own eyes. She didn't flinch at the echo the slam made. "You really want to hear it even though you seem to think you know everything? You came here for nothing then."

"Don't bullshit me," she hissed as she narrowed the distance again. All that separated them was the wrought iron bars. "You said you wouldn't lie to me. So don't."

He bent down just enough to be eye level with her. She was clearly enraged enough to not only kill herself to go to Hell and talk to him, but her gaze never faltered. Not once did she look away. She barely even blinked she was so infuriated. It was a sight to behold. "Fine, Rya. You're so desperate for the truth? Yes, I laid claim on you; you are _mine_. At the end of the day and at the end of time itself there is nothing you can do about that. There isn't even a damn thing Remiel can do about that."

"Why?" Finally her voice shook through grit teeth. "She was your ward; your favorite sibling!" In a fit of rage her hand slammed against the bars the same way his had.

"Because in the end, I chose you!" That got her to take a small step back down. He eyed her carefully, noting their subtle similarities. "You think I expected to? Remmy was my _everything_ until she lost her fuckin' mind. I held out hope for so long that I could save her until you magically landed in front of me. In a _child_ I saw my sister's destruction. I saw someone rise above her when I didn't think that was possible. So I claimed you as mine before she could take you away."

She ran both of her hands through her hair and turned her back to him as panic tried to set in. "I do not belong to you," she forced her voice slow and steady with her eyes closed. "I am not a possession."

"No, but I'm sure you're waiting on me to toss you back up before you start to become all dhampir like."

Her eyes sprung open and she whirled back around getting up close to him. "I know you're going to send me back before I start to turn."

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure, because I haven't done it yet? I don't know Rya, what do you think the price of the truth is?"

Zarya's hands wrapped tightly around two of the bars until her knuckles were white. Her heart was racing nearly out of her chest. He could see the fear starting to take over the anger in her eyes. "You never wanted me to. Not unless it was something I was ready for or wanted to do if you had the option to stop it. I'm trusting you to do it again, Lucifer."

He just stared at her for a minute. The green and the blue in her eyes seemed almost entirely distinct from one another. Fear flashed through them no matter how hard she tried to choke it down. "I suppose knowing the truth going back is enough punishment." His hands wrapped around the bars just above her by less than an inch. He leaned as close to her as he could, his voice low. "The imprint forever on your soul, is because I love you, Rya."

Her eyes widened. Before she could even comprehend a single word to say he slid his hands over hers, sending her away.

Zarya shot up in her bed coughing, wheezing, and sweating. Once she was able to steady her breaths to a not hyperventilating pace she chugged a water bottle on her table. Katia was nowhere to be seen; the spell must have worn off while she was dead. How long had she been out? She assumed Sam and Dean still hadn't returned since it was dead silent. Checking her phone with no new messages she saw it had only been four hours.

Only four hours. Dead. Arguing with Lucifer in Hell.

"Why is my life such a disaster?" She groaned before throwing herself back on her bed face down. She tried so desperately to even slightly ignore the echoing of his final words with absolutely no luck at all. She didn't want to bash her skull in with a hammer so badly even when he sang Stairway to Heaven on repeat. Finally an idea struck her and she grabbed her phone.

"What can I do for you this time, kid?"

Zarya bit her lip at the sound of Nova's voice on the other end. "I need someone to talk to. And to get out of Kansas for a while."


	33. Look What I Carry on My Shoulders Now

33: Look What I Carry On My Shoulders Now.

Nova had been looking to get out of Virginia anyways. She hauled ass in her Firebird to Kansas where the young hunter was already waiting outside of the bunker for her. She gratefully hopped in the passenger's seat of the Firebird with a soft sigh. "So what's got your feathers all in a bunch, kid?" The Romanian broke the silence as they hit the road.

Zarya's face scrunched up for a quick second at the mention of 'feathers' but she immediately shook it off. "Can we talk about you first? I'm honestly still processing what's going on with me and it would be mildly comforting to hear drama other than my own first…"

The vampire shrugged. "Katerina is dying. Finally."

"Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"The cure to vampirism sped up her body since she's been alive around 500 years. She's literally decaying and falling to pieces. It was wonderful timing of you to be having a crisis because Virginia is the last state anyone wants me to be in right now. Not everyone can keep track of where I am so I don't just up and break what's left of the Bulgarian _curva._ "

"What's that mean anyways - _curva_?"

She snickered. "It's Romanian. For _whore_."

Zarya sweatdropped. "And yet people tell _me_ that my mouth is wild…"

"For a modern human and the language you were born into, you really are. Perhaps those of us still alive should teach you more languages. I know a handful myself, but I'm sure my darling sister would be able to find more of an excuse to flee from Mystic Falls to tutor you."

"Why do you say that?" _Is she still broken up over Katia's death…?_

"Well, on top of finally meeting and then losing her only child, Bonnie Bennett came back from the dead. She is now the anchor to the Other Side and back beside Jeremy."

Zarya's brows scrunched together in confusion. "Zina likes Jeremy? No way."

"It's like pulling teeth to get any kind of submission from her but it's there. I suspect she started pining for him when they were both on the Other Side but it's been bad since they both came back. It's kind of what I assume to be, from what I've heard that is," her maroon lips tugged into a sly smirk, "relatable to you and Lucifer."

Her cheeks immediately turned bright pink. "Oh come on, I've been getting heckled about Dean. You really have to go back to _him_?"

"It is the truth, Zarya. And you know it. Just as my sister is uncertain how to feel about Jeremy Gilbert, I see the same look in your eyes. The look of wanting to be around him but feeling as if you should know better. I can see that you care about Dean, sure, but that's more like… a watered down version of Daciana and Klaus. You would do anything to protect him, to keep him alive, but in the end all he is to you is family. I assume that was at least part of what you wanted to lay on me."

Her face fell in her hands. "I know that Dean wants to tell me he's in love with me," her voice shook, "but I just can't let him."

"What spiraled this change?"

"I've had my doubts… but I always cared for Dean. We've been through so much together. I endured an entire year in Purgatory with nobody but him. Not even a single glimmer of Lucifer. No one. I figured when we got back everything would be smooth sailing. Just hunting until the end of our days."

"Even after Purgatory you held no desire to speak of any possible 'feelings' towards one another?"

She shook her head. "Part of me wanted to, but it's not in our lifestyle. It's not… it's not in _me_. I'm not meant to be anyone's girlfriend or wife. The last time I fell for someone… it didn't end well."

"Rejection?"

"No. I never said anything. He loved another, and then he died."

 _Nick,_ Nova realized immediately. _So you did fall in love with your best friend. What the hell happened to you, kid…?_

"When we returned from Purgatory," Zarya continued bitterly, "I wanted nothing more than to go back. I could feel this weight on my chest and shoulders… I could feel the grief of everyone I lost all over again… I started to lose it and bury my mind in unraveling the truth of the Vasiles."

"I imagine that didn't make it any easier for you with the copious amount of lies that has befallen our name."

"Yup. So I turned right back to the only other part of my life that gave me an inkling of comfort no matter how construed the idea was. I let _him_ back into my life. And do you want to know what I found out?"

"I'm fairly certain your intent for this trip was to tell me."

She ignored the witty quip, her eyes focused on the outside as it passed by rapidly. "He imprinted on me." Her voice was barely above a whisper but plenty loud enough for the vampire to hear. "My bond to him was never predetermined which is why it took so many by surprise; it's because he forged it himself when I was a child after Katherine ran our car off the road."

Even Nova's breath caught in her throat. She had heard of 'imprinting' before, but never believed in it let alone amongst angels. Her emerald eyes flicked to the hunter staring absentmindedly out of the window. "Why would he do such a thing if his whole goal was to return to Remiel and burn humanity?"

" _I've waited long enough for you, Rya. I'll burn humanity in your name."_

She twitched a little. "Because it wasn't. He knew she was totally losing it as the years passed, then I ended up right at his feet. And in that moment," her voice was slowly turning into a sob, "he chose me."

The vampire almost wished she could sympathize with the girl, but she just couldn't feel a damn thing. Still no sign of her humanity switch at all. There wasn't a whole lot about imprinting that she knew about, but she did hear a few things over the years. "I never did look much into it, but… do you know what it takes for one to imprint upon another? I mean, I imagine it's different for angels of all creatures…"

Zarya shook her head. "It's not. It's just a hell of a lot stronger and much more binding. Which is why it's flooring every person and creature as soon as they realize."

Nova nodded slowly, keeping her eyes firmly on the road. "Lucifer cares for a human girl more than his own sister."

Her green-blue eyes were borderline vacant as they stared out at the passing scenery. While something broken resided deep within, something _longing_ was fighting to the surface. Her pale lips trembled. She finally said aloud the truth she had been so dearly fighting off. "He loves me."

The Romanian's maroon lips parted slowly as the words etched themselves in her own head. How the hell had the hidden secrets of the Vasiles so dramatic and wild? Even without her humanity Nova still had the hardest time grasping Lucifer, the devil, imprinted on a human child who was never even supposed to step foot in Hell let alone right in front of the Cage. She shook her head before bending over and slapping open her glove box. "How much time do you have before the Winchesters come hunting _you_ down?"

Zarya tried to peer inside of the glove box but Nova kept tapping her back like a nosy child. "I left them a note saying I needed a few days to deal with what happened at Whitmore and I would check in for proof of life regularly. Why…?"

A smirk crossed the driver's face before she pulled a medium sized box from her compartment. She set it on the middle of the seat then tugged her phone out from her cleavage. Zarya watched with wide, curious eyes as Nova drove with her faux leather-clad knees to make a call _and_ dig around for something in the box. While the line rang, Nova pulled out a green lighter and rolled blunt before shutting the box again. "You're going on a trip," she spoke when whoever answered without so much as saying 'hello'.

"Are you… are you lighting a blunt right now?" came Zina's voice from the other end while Nova puffed and struck her lighter until the blunt was fully lit. "Where the hell are you?"

"Yes I am and you would be too if you knew _a fraction_ of what I know, sister. Now get yourself some wheels, or not - I couldn't care less, and get to Nashville."

"Have you derailed again, Nova? Is this your cry for help for Damon and I to bring you home?"

Nova rolled her eyes. She tossed her lighter onto the dash and drove with both hands once the blunt was lit. "Cute, Zina. No, actually, I'm with little Zarya who seems twice as fucked up as you so I thought we three could go get fucked up and forget our issues for 24 hours."

"You don't even _feel_ the issues going on right now, sister. What's going on with Zarya? Is she alright?"

"You can find out yourself if you meet us in Nashville," the elder sister replied in a sing-song voice. Her hand stretched out to offer the blunt to Zarya.

"I'm… I'm not so sure…" She told the vampire timidly as her eyes darted between Nova and the blunt.

Again Nova's eyes rolled. "I promise I'm off the hard stuff, kid. Just a magnificent gram and a half of Mary Jane." She smirked. "Your choice though. I just figured it might help after… you know."

Zina sighed loudly on the other end of the call while Zarya hesitantly took the blunt between her fingers. "So it's bad enough where you're sharing your stash of pot with the girl. Fine, I will meet you in Nashville. But these feet are _not_ running the whole way."

"Steal Steffie's Porsche for all I give a fuck." Nova shrugged. She kept glancing at her passenger who was hesitant to hit the blunt. "Or pretend to hitchhike and kill the driver for their car. I don't care."

"We know you don't care, Nova. Try not to convince Zarya of those ideals."

The call ended so Nova tossed her phone onto the seat near her box. That was when Zarya began coughing horrendously. Nova slammed her breaks, pulling off to the side of the road, when she realized the hunter had only attempted to smoke for the first time. Nova burst out laughing. Zarya tried, without any luck, to tell Nova not to laugh at her but she couldn't stop coughing. The vampire wiped a tear from her eye then reached in the back for a water bottle for the girl who handed her back the blunt.

"Try inhaling much, _much_ less, kid," she laughed, taking a long drag.

Zarya's head shook as she chugged down half of the bottle. "No way. That was worse than the occasional cigarette."

"Oh come on," Nova groaned. "You sneak cigarettes here and there but you're afraid of a blunt? For a hunter you have some odd ideals."

She scoffed. "Must be the devil gunning for me."

Again Nova's hand held out the blunt while they were still stopped. "Smaller drags. It's thicker smoke."

Hesitantly, Zarya did try again before they took back off. The first hit was the tiniest bit of smoke that made Nova bust out in hysterics again. The sound almost made Zarya feel less awkward about her own laugh. With a little more curiosity and bravery she hit the blunt once more with a successful mouthful of smoke and proper breathing. When Zarya was fairly settled into smoking with Nova, the Firebird zoomed down the road again.

* * *

It had been a year. A whole year since Gabriel had begun his 'witness protection' for, well, Zarya in specific but the Winchester pair as well. He just couldn't let his oldest brothers shred up the one glimmer of actual _hope_ for humanity and maybe even angels too. Sam and Dean hunted still in an effort to help keep her off the grid and away from both Lucifer and Michael's prying schemes. It had taken her some time to adjust, but eventually Zarya found some sort of solace in Dean. While he hunted she worked at the bar/restaurant Gabriel created and they spent nights together. It was a peaceful mask over her eyes to help keep her from thinking about Lucifer.

Another day had gone by as normally as any other. At the end of her shift, Zarya was finishing setting up the banquet room for the following day when she heard muffled voices. She finished the last table before wiping her hands on her apron that she started to take off as she walked up front. She could hear Gabe trying to keep his voice hushed, but it still sounded so infuriated. She wasn't expecting the brothers to return for at least another couple of hours, let alone for either of them to set off the long fuse of Gabriel's anger.

"Why can't you just let her go, bro?"

The pleading in the young archangel's voice originally paused Zarya in the doorway until she saw who Gabriel was speaking with. Her lips parted slowly when she met his devilish blue eyes boring into her soul. Without looking away from her green-blue eyes or his expression changing even in the slightest, Lucifer replied, "Because you know as well as I do that she belongs _with me._ "

Her grip on the apron in her hands tightened until her knuckles were white. Without realizing it her feet began to stomp their way up to him. Gabriel immediately jumped between the two, holding his arms out to keep them fully separate. "Go back and finish getting ready to go, Z. I'll deal with the bag of dicks."

Zarya's eyes had been fixated on the elder angel in the building. Her expression was cold and unwavering. Gabriel kept looking between the two, growing more mortified at the similarities in their faces. "I want to hear what he's got the balls to say," she spoke slowly as to keep her own temper in check.

"No, you absolutely do _not_ ," Gabe insisted. "Go home and call Dean."

"Gabe," her gaze finally jumped onto him, "don't you think that if he just waltzed in here that he would have no issue just waltzing into my home?" Her eyes wandered back to Lucifer who was resisting the urge to smirk. "Go sit," she told him in a bold tone as she pointed towards the back booths. "Choose your words carefully and make them minimal."

"Zarya!" Gabe called after her. He merely watched as the ravenette walked to the back of the restaurant with his brother.

"I always do enjoy when you try to stand your ground," Lucifer opened with when they sat. "So… fiery." He smirked.

"You're running out of the number of words to say to me." She forced her tone steady and emotionless as best as she could, though she was finding it increasingly difficult. The longer she sat across from him under his piercing gaze the more often her legs would cross and recross over themselves.

"I think we both know that's not true. You want to hear what I have to say. All of it. What I actually want, our witty banter, the snide, flirtatious comments…"

"Why don't you just start with what you actually want so we can skip your attempts at the other two?"

He snickered. "Of course, Rya. As if we weren't already doing the other two. Michael and Raphael intend on killing you first to make sure they can get to me."

"That would be why I'm here with the brother who ditched the drama and knows how to disappear at the drop of a dime."

Lucifer scoffed and rolled his eyes. Across the restaurant he could see his brother behind the bar watching them carefully with scrutiny. "Yeah, about that… _I_ found you, Rya. Mostly because I have the common sense about where to look for you, but it's only a matter of time."

Her nose gave a subtle twitch, knowing he was unfortunately correct. Of course Lucifer would find her first; of course he knew where to look. "So why are you here?" The steadiness of her voice was wavering.

"I want you to come with me, of course." He told her matter-of-factly. "You are the safest by _my_ side, Rya. My baby brother can only hide you for so long before Mikey and Raph come to kick the hell out of him. If you're with me, they can't touch us and Gabe can vanish entirely. He already did it once."

"I have a life, Lucifer." Her tone was dark and low. She was at least pondering the idea and he knew it.

Again he scoffed. "You are a waitress at a protective restaurant created by my baby brother, and, what? Dean Winchester?" The scoff turned into a mocking chuckle. "That's not even competition to me, Rya." Finally she uncrossed her arms and let them lay casually on top of the table. His eyes flicked back to Gabriel, noticing that Zarya was entirely out of the younger archangel's eyeshot. Boldly, Lucifer took her hands in his own out of Gabriel's view. He hesitated only for a second, expecting her to recoil and yank her hands back. A daring confidence grew stronger when she didn't budge a centimeter. "You know I can give you the world, Rya. You don't have to be hidden in some off the map town and try to blend in with humanity. I can take you _anywhere_ under Michael's nose and even if he did manage to scout you out then at least you would be with _me_ where you are safe."

"Why are you so hell bent over this?" There was a strain to her voice. She was arguing with herself because, in truth, she longed to leave. "It's been months and it has been peacefully quiet. What makes you think I'll just go right back to your madness?"

He couldn't resist the urge to smirk again. "Well, for one, you've made no move to retract your hands from me. Even now, as I make you fully aware of it happening you're still letting me sit here, talk to you, and touch you. Your darling Dean would _seethe_ at the sight. And I don't know how many more times I have to say it before it gets through your thick skull, but I will _never_ stop coming for you, Rya. Whether I'm topside or in the Cage, you are _mine_. What you've been doing with Dean Winchester is nothing but a joke."

While the darkly possessive look in his eyes should have fueled her fire and told her to run, Zarya realized that all it did was pull her in further. "Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" He asked as innocently as he could muster. He noticed that if he leaned close enough he was entirely out of his brother's sight. So he picked up her hands in his before leaning forward and gently kissing her pale knuckles without looking away from her eyes. He knew it was only a matter of time.

"Things like that that I should be smacking the hell out of you for… I should have walked away already."

"Oh, Rya," he kept her hands near his face as he continued to smirk at her. "You never should have sat down if you were actually happy here, but you know that it's just not good enough. That _Dean_ is not enough for you."

"Everything was going just fine until you decided to show up here tonight."

"Because you don't want to be here, Rya." His tone was growing stern and impatient while still trying to coax her calmly. "You know that you want to come with me so just stop fighting it."

Her fingers tightened around his as her heartbeat sped up steadily. "Do not try to tell me what I know and what I want," her whisper of a voice shook with emotion and uncertainty.

"Why not?" His tone dropped so it was barely louder than hers. Just their hands kept their faces apart. "I know exactly what you want, Rya. You want a love that _consumes_ you, or nothing at all. You want passion, adventure," another chaste kiss to her knuckles, "and even a little bit of danger. And that, my love, is why you will _always_ return to _me_."

* * *

Zarya awoke with a start when Nova essentially brake checked the vehicle for no reason other than to wake the sleeping hunter. "I know I've had some… interesting dreams after falling asleep stoned out of my mind," Nova smirked a little, "but if Zina were here then I would have made her show me whatever was going on in your noggin."

She rubbed her eyes and blinked the rest of the sleep away. What state were they in? How long had she been asleep? Looking to the vampire who still held the smirk on her face, Zarya froze a little. She knew well that it was Nova Vasile and not _him_ , but was that why she rather enjoyed her time with Nova? The bluntness of her words, the lackadaisical outlook towards life and humanity, the simplest of gestures like the way her dark red lips pulled into an arrogant smirk…

"It was a dream I had some years ago," Zarya admitted. "Post apocalypse case we were working on ended up involving a siren and a djinn working together. I got stuck in the djinn's mental hallucination mojo where I was in a world that Gabriel wasn't dead and rather than face the final battle, he took the three of us off the map entirely. I was a waitress in his restaurant while Sam and Dean hunted so it was known that they were alive but no one could find them. It was peaceful. I was still a waitress, and… and I had Dean."

Nova nodded slowly with understanding. "Feeling like the apocalypse had derailed you were comfortable enough to try and settle down. I don't know much about djinn, most have known better than to try and be within miles of me so quite frankly I wasn't certain they actually existed, but I believe something I heard was that it's supposed to be a happy dream; like a fantasy. The tone of your voice says it's going to go otherwise somewhere."

"Oh, it does." She scoffed lightly. "The only way to escape a djinn's hallucination is to be aware that you're in a fantasy and kill yourself so you'll wake up in your real life. Anything else and you die for real. The longer the djinn can keep you under, the longer they get to feed."

"So you're living a backhanded apple pie life with the Winchesters and archangel Gabriel. I wonder where it all goes to Hell."

"The second that Lucifer walks in as I'm finishing a shift at the restaurant." _Didn't that happen when I was comatose at Whitmore too?_ She thought bitterly. "Of course my dumb ass goes and hears the bonehead out."

"And Sam and Dean are where?"

"Coming home from a hunt. At some point while I'm getting laid into by the bonehead, Gabe called Dean because _duh_. So he's speeding back while I'm sitting there like a hopeless mope getting convinced to run away. My dream this time was just that part of him coming in and getting in my head, but it wasn't even the full thing like a few years ago."

"Alright, I know I'm old so I need you and your up-to-date hunter brain to slow the hell down." Zarya laughed a little. "Let me get the scenario here correct: post apocalypse you get trapped in a djinn's hallucination. Sometime after that you have a dream about the back half of your hallucination. Now you've only dreamed _part_ of the back half of the hallucination?"

"More or less, yes. This time - probably thanks to you checking your brakes - it stopped before I agreed to leave with him. I mean, the more I think about, the more ironically timed it was that you woke me up."

"What do you mean, kid?"

"It wasn't mid sentence or anything. It was clear, distinct, and like it was meant to get to me all over again…"

"What was said, Zarya? The important stuff; you can tell me all of the smut after." She smirked.

The hunter resisted the urge to reach out and hit Nova knowing it would do her hand more harm than her mind good. She sighed, then closed her eyes and relaxed into the leather seat. It wasn't that difficult to pull the memory forward. It had been clear as day for a third time. "I told him not to tell me what I know and I want. He told me…" Her voice started to shake, eyes opening and staring up at the ceiling of the car. "He told me he knew exactly what I wanted. ' _You want a love that consumes you_ ,'" she recited the exact quote which immediately earned Nova's widened eyes, "' _or nothing at all. You want passion, adventure,_ _and even a little bit of danger. And that, my love, is why you will always return to me._ '"

Nova didn't notice when the light turned green at first. It was an unusual gesture that made Zarya look at her, finding the astonishment on the vampire's face. "Damon has said that to me," her voice fell just above a whisper. "The very first time was the first night I spent at the Salvatore home in 1860…"

* * *

[Flashback; Mystic Falls, 1860]

"What are you still doing up?"

Nova was sitting in the nook of the bow window with her knees curled to her chest. Her raven hair was out of the braid and freshly washed with a clean, light purple nightgown covering her. When she finally tore her eyes away from the stars, she found Damon's light blue ones in her doorway. "I…" It took her a moment to carefully remember the English words she learned on the boat. "I cannot sleep. I am foreign here."

Damon smiled softly and stepped into her room, quietly shutting the door behind him. "You are homesick." She looked up at him with confusion in her emerald eyes. "That is what it's called - homesick. Even though you ran away from a bad life, it was still where you spent your life. It was all you knew before you left."

Nova's eyes returned to outside through the window. In the delicate light they and the moon gave off, Damon could see crimson highlighting her still damp waves. "The sky never looked this beautiful in Romania…"

She jumped a little when he gently placed his hand on her shoulder blade. "You will see everything beautiful Mystic Falls and America has to offer you, Nova. Everything you could ever want in life I can show you."

She smiled softly up at him, enjoying the warmth of his hand through the thin material of the nightgown. "How could you know what I desire when I do not?"

"You want what we all want," he returned the smile with his own as he bent down to her eye level. "You want a love that consumes you… passion, adventure… and even a little bit of danger since you are so reckless."

Nova's smile seemed to widen. A light pink shade started to show on her pale cheeks. "Is that what you want too, Damon?"

"I want to be the one to make sure you get everything you want."

* * *

[Present]

Zarya honestly could have cried if she was just a smidge more of a sappy romantic. Partly because she knew it was something that was always out of her reach. Yet still even with Nova's humanity off Damon fought tooth and nail for the woman. He overlooked some of the worst things she could possibly do and desperately tried to put her straight. He didn't even care anymore that she wouldn't turn on her humanity. He was alright having her around and not massacring the cities they were in. A part of Zarya always longed for something like that, but she held no desire in turning or being with a vampire and what was the point in having a human boyfriend? She could keep him blissfully ignorant or tell him about the hunting life but it would all end the same: with him dying just like everyone else.

Aside from that, Zarya never felt deserving of a love like that. Someone who would ride or die no matter the situation. Someone to look at you as a disaster when you first wake up and say you're beautiful. Someone to be able to handle all of the mental trauma. Someone not afraid of monsters. She could never have that. She never even felt so strongly about another human being after losing Nick. She held out hope for so long that Dean could do it, that he could fill the gaping hole left behind, but he just couldn't. Deeper and deeper she watched him fall for her, even during and after being a Knight of Hell. She tried _so fucking hard_ to give her heart to another. When she just couldn't she knew even better than before that she would never be somebody's girlfriend, wife, or mother.

"You care for him," Nova told her in a whisper-like voice. "That's what's really scaring you right now is that you're pretty sure you're acknowledging that you care about Lucifer probably as much as he does for you."

"Even _**if**_ ," she could not stress the 'if' enough, "that were the case… I still _can't_. That's not a life that's meant for me."

"Why? Because you're a hunter? Give me a break, Zarya. Damon and I have been vampires for a century and a half. He was hung up on the Bulgarian _curva_ who was too obsessed with his brother. Still is, by the way. We have been kidnapped, attacked, ambushed, threatened, and separated. But if you truly care about someone - truly _love_ them - you will _always_ find your way back to them. You will _always_ fight for them no matter what it takes. I don't think the Vasiles have an issue finding love; I'm pretty certain that we love far too hard once we have someone worth our time. You don't want to have kids? That is perfectly reasonable. I was never interested in the thought of motherhood either. But you don't have to reject the idea of loving someone else because you are afraid."

Zarya gave her a somber smile. "That's an awful lot of emotion for a vampire who won't turn her humanity back on you know. I appreciate it though."

Nova's dark lips turned into a tight frown. "It's not… it's not that I _won't_ turn it back on," she admitted softly. "I _can't_ , Zarya. I've tried looking for the switch and it's gone this time." Her green-blue eyes widened. "Just because I lack humanity now does not mean I never learned about or felt love. I still very much love Damon with all of my heart - whatever may be left and possibly beating. I will love Damon until the end of time and existence. You are allowed to have that, Zarya. You are meant to have someone to endlessly care for."

"Not if they're just going to end up dead!" She finally shouted in an outburst. "Yes, Dean came back and thankfully Sam was able to cure him but that still doesn't change the fact that I watched the light leave his eyes. I lost Sarah, and my god daughter, and… and…"

Nova's hand on the wheel switched so she could reach over and grab the girl's hand comfortingly. "You've still got about three hours until we reach Nashville so let it all out now, kid."

Without a second thought the tears sprung from her eyes. It was barely a minute before Zarya was full blown sobbing. Nova gave her hand a squeeze, her own chest aching for the girl. She couldn't imagine how she would feel to lose Damon at any point in her life. Just watching Giuseppe shoot him was bad enough but at least he had vampire blood in his veins even if it was the Bulgarian _curva_ 's. Part of her wondered how Nick Rowell had become _so_ painfully significant to Zarya. She tried to explain it to Nova, and when the vampire told her she really didn't have to Zarya insisted.

" _I get it… you don't have to continue, Katia. Really."_

" _I do though." She looked up and met Zarya's eyes. There was a strength in her dark eyes, but also a deep brokenness. "Because I've never told anyone what I know; that I even know this. I need to tell someone, and I'd like that someone to be you."_

"I need to tell someone," she caught her breath to repeat the dhampirs words that had once been to her. "And I'd like that someone to be you."

Nova's emerald eyes flicked to her for a quick second. She shrugged. "Alright. Lay it on me, kid."

Zarya took a breath as deep as her lungs would permit. "We were best friends, our whole lives. I was fifteen and snuck out to a party I had no business being at other than to be a rebellious teenager. I never had a lot of alcohol before then, let alone hard liquor. People kept giving me whiskey. As soon as I finished one, another was in my hand. I was beyond trashed and getting all hot and bothered." She shifted awkwardly in her seat. "Some seniors and their college friends were trying to get me to go with them… one even tried dragging me away. Drunk or not I fought like hell until I was able to lock myself in a bedroom that thankfully had a phone in it. I called Nick, sobbing like the drunk mess I was, and he could hear the guys trying to get to me. I don't think he ever drove so damn fast," she smiled sadly and mournfully at the memory.  
"He knew a few of the guys and laid out two of them. Broken noses and black eyes and one of them even had a cracked rib just so he could get to the door. He scooped me up while I was a blubbering mess and snuck me out without anyone else noticing until we were gone. His parents were out of the country on business and the Deightons peacefully asleep so he took me back to his house promising me he would settle it with the Deightons after I slept and sobered up. He was like my Superman that night… and I kissed him. I went on a drunken tangent about how much he meant to me and I begged him to just want me. I knew how much he cared for me as friends, but I just… I wanted him to _want_ me, you know…?"

Nova's mouth was set straight and tight, gaze unmoving from the empty road. Her eyes prickled with a slight burn that she hadn't felt in months - _tears._ Her eyes wanted so badly to make them in vast quantity and just let them spill, but nothing came past the prickle. She let Zarya just cry it out, almost wishing somewhere within that she could do the same.


	34. One More Sunrise for the Dawn

34: One More Sunrise for the Dawn.

Two men entered an alleyway looking for the hooded person they had been chasing. One of the men took out an unusual compass; it pointed one way and both men took out their guns. Going down the alley one of the men checks the dumpsters. As he lifted the second lid, Charlie Bradbury jumped up and stabbed him in the neck with a sword. She leaped out of the dumpster and kicked him away before boldly slicing off the hand of the second man still holding a gun. He started to laugh so she pointed the sword at his chest directly.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded shakily. "And why are you following me?"

"I ain't following you," the man with the bleeding lack of hand replied with a southern accent. "I'm following what you got in your bag there. That don't belong to you, girl. Belongs to my family."

"Yeah? Well, sorry Gambit; finder's keeper's."

"It's beyond your understanding. Hell, you can't even read it."

"Are you always so condescending when someone's pointing a blade at you?"

"Now, you look here - you can cut me down, but my people will never stop." He raised his hands (well, hand). "And you can tiptoe through the tulips like you did in Russia, or you can stow away on the back of a train like you did in Alaska, but soon enough my kin will find you. This ends with you being dead."

Before he grabbed the sword away Charlie noticed an unusual tattoo on his wrist. Once the sword was out of her hands she took off running. The man picked up his gun and took a shot, getting the redhead in the back. She let out a cry of pain but climbed through a hole in a fence and ran regardless.

* * *

Zarya was enjoying Nashville with the Romanian twins, surprisingly enough. It was hit or miss with the country music, but Zarya at least got them both to listen to and thoroughly appreciate Carrie Underwood. Both Zina and Zarya dug right into the food. Neither of them cared about barbeque sauce on their hands. For a while Nova kept up her little charade of being too proper for hand food, until she smelled the most delectable chicken wings. To taunt her, Zina and Zarya got the biggest bucket of wings they could order and waved it right in Nova's face. Zina teasingly reached in slowly to further harass her sister. Nova slapped her hand away and ripped a drumstick slathered in sauce from the bucket first. Both Zarya and Zina were in hysterics at the fierce way the elder Romanian _tore_ into the drumstick. At the first bite she melted into the flavor so the three sat and proceeded to dig into the bucket of wings and drumsticks.

After a while it was honestly hard to believe that Nova was unable to turn her humanity back on. They just kept laughing and poking fun at one another like she did with Sam and Dean. There was more walking when they came to a little shop of leather. Zarya got herself a new pair of combat boots and a belt that came with a gun holster. Zina decided on a medium sized, black leather purse. Nova, surprisingly, was staring at the same section of boots Zarya had after picking out a new leather jacket.

"My sister in boots?" Zina laughed, looking down at the sharp and fashionable black, peep toe heels Nova had currently worn.

"I actually used to wear them frequently." Her brows furrowed. "I seem to wear heels when I shut off my humanity. And after I finally got Klaus off of my ass."

"Wasn't that another time you had shut off your humanity?"

Nova shrugged. "A common theme I suppose then."

"You know," came Zarya's softer tone down the way; she was working on putting on her new boots, "there are combat boots with heels down here. Best of both worlds?"

Out of curiosity, the twins ventured down to the section in question. There, indeed, had been a fair sized section of boots that resembled the regular combat boots but included a heel rather than flat bottom. A small smile came to Nova's face, then she reached for a pair decorated with little silver studs. She bent down and placed a small, side kiss on Zarya's cheek before going to check out. Zina snickered at the human's pink tinted cheeks and brightly confused expression.

"We're European, _malŭk_. The French do it on each cheek to this day."

Zarya made a face at whatever it was the younger Romanian had called her. "What the hell did you just gurgle at me?"

Zina loved the girl's humor. "It's Bulgarian. Something like… little one, in English."

"Oh yeah, Nova mentioned something about you guys knowing a lot of languages. So you're Romanian, and you can speak Bulgarian?"

She nodded. "I can speak Romanian fluently as it is my blood. Katerina taught me Bulgarian because that was her native tongue and she taught me English to be more diverse. I've picked up a handful of others just watching people from the Other Side and let me tell you, Russian and German are two of my least favorite. It does not matter what you say in either language because it sounds like a threat."

The hunter laughed a little. "I can see that. Do you know any, like… severely deceased languages that, say, even demons would shiver at hearing?"

Zina's eyes slid over the tiny but still noticeably curvy human hunter. She knew exactly what the girl had to have been asking about. There wasn't a whole lot that made demons quiver. "You don't use that kind of language."

"But you know it," the human insisted. "What _is_ it?"

She sighed and sat beside her on the bench, her voice dropping very low. "It was a language formed between Remiel and Lucifer in Heaven. Everybody up there spoke Enochian so it's not like they got private conversations ever. They created their own language that would be entirely off the books. Never heard, never recorded, never existed. Kind of like this conversation."

"Why is it so feared then? It's just a language. It's not like people have a crippling fear over the German language after World War II or… or Nordic or whatever is out past Ireland I guess."

A brow quirked up curiously from Zina as her sister rejoined them to put on her own new boots. "Did you know you're Irish?"

"I'm sure she knows, sister," Nova chastised as she laced up the first boot.

"Actually… I didn't." Both twins looked at her suddenly. "I was adopted completely under the radar and compelled to know no different, remember? I don't know a damn thing about my birth mom past the few things I've researched."

"Huh. It must have been something to slip my mind." Nova shrugged. "Yes, your branch of our clan is from a migration to Ireland. The only other notable Vasile from Ireland was Darerca who mysteriously vanished in 1589 from the woods."

"You never heard that tale, sister?" Zina questioned.

"Believe it or not, mother and father didn't exactly read me bedtime stories despite being the child they kept."

"It's Celtic lore," the younger Romanian explained as they continued through Nashville. "The legend of Tír Na nÓg." Zarya had heard that somewhere before but couldn't remember where. "It's the land of eternal youth in Ireland."

Before Zina could continue on about her knowledge of Tír Na nÓg, Zarya's phone rang loudly from her pocket. She hadn't forgotten to text the brothers, had she? "Still alive and well," she greeted when she answered Dean's call.

"Good," he replied quickly, "you need to get to Des Moines as fast as you can."

"What's happened?"

"Charlie found the Book of the Damned and, as she put it, some 'southern fried d-bags' hurt her. She got away though. We're at one of Bobby's old safe houses out here."

Overhearing the conversation, Zina tossed her the keys to the car she had taken to meet them in Nashville. With a look of confusion from the hunter, she mouthed that she would go home with her sister. "Alright, I can be there in about eight hours if I speed recklessly and don't stop."

Once they hung up, Nova smirked at Zarya. "Who's this Charlie that's got you all worried?"

The girl's cheeks turned a light pink but she smiled. "Charlie Bradbury is probably the sweetest human soul I have ever met in my life. Anyone that hurts her I will shred mercilessly. She's one of the few good things I still have left in life."

Zina's lip pouted in a smile of affection for her words. "Then go rush to Iowa and keep the sweet girl safe."

* * *

When the newer looking, dark red Charger sped up to the cabin, Sam and Dean drew their guns cautiously. Charlie tried to sit up a little on the couch, hopeful and eager that it was Zarya. The driver's door whipped open and slammed shut in the split second before the ravenette went running up the pathway. The redhead grinned when she heard the female hunter in question arguing with Dean in the doorway. He wanted her to calm down, but she just wasn't having it.

"Who laid a finger on her goddamn head, huh?!" Zarya shouted. "How is she? Is it that bad? Why won't you let me by, Dean? So help me I will move you myself."

"I'm fine, Arya!" Charlie shouted, half laughing. Dean was shoved to the side abruptly and in merely two seconds the redhead was practically smothered against Zarya's chest and abdomen. "I gave a good fight, patched myself up enough, Sam and Dean fixed the rest, and now they're making me 'take it easy'."

"That's grand and all but I'm gonna need names of the sons of bitches that still caused you injuries. I wanna take these 'southern fried d-bags' and overcook their wings a lot."

"Maybe after but I did come back with the Book of the Damned."

"Which sounds awful, by the way."

"Yeeaahh… here's what I've learned so far. About 700 years ago, a nun locked herself away after having visions of darkness. After a few decades squirrelled away by herself, she emerged with this." Carefully, Charlie pulled the book from her backpack. "Each page is made out of slices of her own skin written in her blood. I told you, it's eekish. According to the notes I found, it's been owned and used by cults, covens, and the Vatican had it for a while. There's a spell inside that thing for everything. Talking some black mass, dark magic, end-of-times nastiness. As far as what language it's written in, I'm thinking it's some kind of…uh…"

The book had been passed around until it landed at Dean. The elder Winchester had been staring at it strangely with a dark look on his face. When she noticed, the Mark on her arm started to itch. Sam called his brother's name, and it took a minute, but finally he snapped out of it. "I don't think it's a good idea if I touch this." He handed the book back to Charlie, muttering about going to get the rest of their stuff.

"What the hell was that?" Charlie looked up at Sam.

"It couldn't have been the Mark, could it? I mean, it's on me too and I wasn't ogling some creepy old book."

"You also barely touched it too," the younger brother commented.

Hesitantly but curiously, Charlie handed the book back to Zarya. The thought of the pages being a nun's skin perturbed her enough where she really didn't want to, but reluctantly the ravenette took the book in her hands. With a small sigh and her fingers gingerly on the corner of the cover she opened it up and glanced at the first page. She blinked a couple of times and then her brows furrowed. Sam and Charlie watched her green-blue eyes slowly scan across the blood written words as if it were just a poor handwriting.

"Do you… do you understand any of that?" Sam asked apprehensively.

"Don't douse me in holy water or stick me in a circle of holy oil, but… I might be able to pick out a few words. And they do not sound good even when they don't make sense. Why the hell is this thing in any of our presences?"

Sam finally met her eyes with the book still in her hands. "We're going to find a cure to get the Mark of Cain off of Dean, and you."

* * *

Auriel flipped through a grimoire mindlessly with a hand supporting her head. "I'm really not sure what you had in mind after what happened to Alina and Felix."

Saskia's eyes rolled. "If Felix had not been as he was and did as he had then it could have turned out better. Their studies worked well on Nova."

"Yeah, because she ended up a vampire from the Originals' line. That's the trick is separating the bloodlines since Esther performed the spell successfully. She gave the vampires the ability to turn and be superior, but still too grounded to nature and therefore deeply rooted in its rules. The alterations done to Alina and Felix gave them extended life, but you saw how it deteriorated them."

"I'm not hoping for unstoppable, immortal beasts, Auriel. Just an army of mindless creatures who can turn weak humans into more. What of the Book of the Damned?"

"It was found by a Charlie Bradbury who is actively being pursued by the Styne family and protected by Zarya and the Winchesters."

Saskia made a face of disgust at the mention of the Stynes. "What happens if Zarya dies with the Mark of Cain?"

Auriel's eyes widened slightly with wonder. Dean became a Knight of Hell if he died with the Mark. What would happen to a girl with the dhampir gene dormant? "Surely Lucifer would ship her right back before we could find out. He doesn't seem too keen on letting her turn so long as she doesn't want it."

"She's not going to have much of a choice sooner or later. If they succeed in finding the spell to break the Mark of Cain it could rip her humanity right out of her."

"What happens then though? Everything about Zarya is currently experimental. We never anticipated Lucifer actually imprinting on anyone, let alone her."

"We keep pushing until she gives him an imprint back."

"Be careful what you seek, Saskia. For any creature, even another angel, to leave their own mark upon the angel's grace is a bold thing to do. It weighs heavily and affects quite a bit."

Saskia smirked as she watched the flames dance in the fireplace. "I know exactly what it means, Auriel. And I am going to make certain it happens."

* * *

"Okay," Charlie sighed, "even the Bletchley Circle couldn't crack this thing. I've tried every cryptographic algorithm there is. Goose egg."

Dean looked up from the files he had been reading. "Well, maybe that's not such a bad thing. Those people following you? Hm? All kinds of wrong. I'm talking multi-generational, centuries old _wrong_. The Styne family; Men of Letters' files have them dated back to the early 1800s. They used spells to create disease, to destabilize markets. Hell, they even helped the Nazis before they came into power, and they profited from it."

Zarya's jaw was ajar in a frown. "So, they're like the supernatural Du Ponts?"

"Basically. All of the spells they used came from a book of 'unspeakable evil' which they lost nearly a hundred years ago."

"Alright," Sam tried to shrug off the chill creeping on his spine, "so they're bad. So what? We've faced worse."

"Sam, read the file. The way the book works is, when you use it, there is a negative reaction. I'm talking _biblical_ negative. Dark magic always comes with a price. We know that. We've been down that road before."

The brothers started to go back and forth about whether to continue or not. Zarya tried her best to drown them out and read. When she looked up again, they were both gone. Seeing the confusion on her face, Charlie informed her raven haired companion that Sam and Dean took it outside for a ride since they forgot her snacks. Zarya nodded slowly. She mentally ticked off another time she successfully avoided being alone with Dean.

"I heard you've been through some crazy stuff," the redhead commented when they sat on the couch to take a break.

Zarya chuckled humorlessly. "So they caught you up, huh?"

She nodded. "I just don't understand why you left, Arya." The onyx haired hunter smiled softly at the nickname. "You seemed like you were finally doing alright."

"I was, I guess. But after Purgatory I just… I felt the weight of the world on me, Red. And no matter how much time I spent around Sam and Dean I had never felt more alone."

"Well, the good news is that you know more about where you came from now, right?" She smiled.

Zarya returned the smile. "Sort of?" She laughed. "It turns out the Vasiles are endangered creatures still being hunted to this day so it's just lie on top of lie to hide in the darkness. But I've met a good few of them and while they have their dark sides, they're all pretty wicked. I also found out that my mom was friends with Mary Campbell-Winchester."

"No way! How the frack did they know each other?!"

"I'm still pretty fuzzy on the chain of events, but it seems like Mary would have known my maternal grandmother, Audra, who wound up a hunter because Nova mercilessly murdered her parents…" She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

Sam and Dean burst back through the door then. Both women jumped to their feet, demanding to know what was going on. "The Stynes," Dean answered quickly. "They found us. The douches are all jacked up too."

"What are you talking about?" questioned Zarya.

He tossed a cup of something into the fireplace. "I emptied a full clip into one of them before the son of a bitch went down."

While Sam and Dean bickered again about whether or not to destroy the book, Zarya looked to Charlie with determination in her eyes. "Whatever happens, Red, I've got you." She stepped closer to the door and windows, hand reaching for her revolver when she froze. She recalled Dean's comment about his full clip into one of the Stynes; would her six shooter do anything at all? As her arm rested back by her side, mind racing when a new car sped into the area, something cool brushed beneath her sleeved arm. She inwardly sighed. A glance back to a shaking Charlie gave her the drive to take hold of the angel blade. Lucifer's angel blade.

The Stynes burst through and Dean called as loudly as he could bellow for the ravenette. Her green-blue irises flickered a fiery magenta before she took off and started wailing on the Stynes. Dean jumped in for the bigger man while Jacob focused on Zarya with curiosity in his eyes.

"Aren't you a cute little thing, sweet pea. Who might you be?" His eyes then flicked to the angel blade displayed proudly in her hand. "That won't get you very far, darlin'."

"I'd put money that it will, actually." She smirked. The blade turned in her hand, revealing the sigil engraved. Jacob's eyes widened before looking back to the girl with the short raven hair and fire in her hybrid colored irises. "And my name, is _Zarya Vasile!_ "

She sprinted forward with such speed and strength neither brother nor Charlie had ever witnessed. She headbutted Jacob _hard_ into a wall, cracking it from floor to ceiling. She swiped over and over again with the angel blade knicking him in various places, but Jacob did his best to keep her silver blade at bay. He finally got a chance at one point and grabbed her arm as it swung down to him. Zarya shocked him by whirling around, using his grip tightly on her to move him, and tossed him over the couch. The second Styne with Jacob knocked Dean to the floor. He moved to grab Zarya from behind but she could feel it coming. She grabbed him before he could do it to her and flipped her swiftly over her head.

"My, my," Jacob chuckled after wiping away some blood on his lip. " _What_ are you, sweet pea? A Vasile you said? Tricky family they were. Didn't think they were still kickin'.

"Oh, we are. And I'm the one kicking the hardest."

Zarya swiftly ran up and over the couch with one foot gracefully hitting the arched back of the furniture. As she was mid-air they watched her other foot swing forward and kick Jacob Styne as hard as she possibly could with the momentum in his face. His head turned with the force, cheek cracking, and he landed with a loud bang onto the wood floor. Zarya landed on top of him and drove the angel blade deep into his chest before yanking it back out. Blood splattered across her face. Dean ran over and grabbed her first, pulling her off and away from Jacob Styne. By time her feet hit the floor again on the other side of the couch, Lucifer's angel blade was gone again.

"Go get in the car!" the elder Winchester told her firmly while ushering Charlie towards the ravenette. "I don't actually know if these sons of bitches will stay down!"

Zarya immediately grabbed the redhead's hand and sprinted to the Impala with the brothers in tow. Once all four were in the vehicle, the drive away from the cabin was dead silent. Charlie was horrified and terrified for her raven haired friend. Sam was guilty of burning a book that wasn't the Book of the Damned hidden in his bag. Dean was somewhere between enraged and deeply concerned with the Mark of Cain scorching his arm; he knew damn well it was Lucifer's angel blade in Zarya's hand. Zarya, however, kept her eyes fixated out the window the entire drive. Her expression was unreadable. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the way the mirrored Mark scorched her skin as well.

She thought about tucking and rolling out of the car in the beginning of their drive. Returning to the cabin and doing whatever it took to _make certain_ those two Styne fellas weren't coming back. She could still feel something dark looming. Dean had made Sam destroy the Book of the Damned, so they thought, but Zarya couldn't help but feeling like it wasn't destroyed. Something in her intuition screamed that it wasn't over yet; that something even worse was about to happen. As her thoughts began to spiral downwards a warm hand clasped around her cool one, making her jump. When she looked over, Charlie gave her a comforting smile. Her shoulders relaxed, a soft smile coming to her own pale lips.

* * *

[Flashback, spring 2012]

"Wait," Sam looked at Charlie with bewilderment, "how long did it take you to crack into Frank's drive?"

The redhead shrugged timidly. "A day or so."

With an almost creepy silence, Zarya had walked in then. The door to Charlie's apartment made no sound as it opened or shut. Dean quickly did a double take when he realized her presence. "Is there anything you _can't_ hack into?"

Charlie jumped in her seat when she heard the ravenette's soft voice. "I… uh…" She hadn't realized that she actually rose to her feet. "N-not yet… who are you?"

Sam offered a small smile. "It's okay, Charlie; she's with us. This is Zarya Deighton."

"And yes, she happens to be an extra creepy ninja," Dean added with a grin.

Zarya approached the girl with a heartwarming smile and her hand extended. "I promise you I'm not creepy nor an actual ninja."

Charlie's cheeks were turning almost as red as her hair the longer she held eye contact with Zarya. It was astounding the way the young woman had seemingly supernatural beauty. The natural lighting of the apartment highlighted the indigo tint to her black hair that fell in thick, messy waves down to her shoulder blades. She was nearly pale as porcelain without a single freckle or flaw on her face except the purple circles beneath her eyes. Her eyes though were unlike anything Charlie had ever seen in person. Were they green? Were they blue? It was a brightly perfect combination of both. Zarya's hand was cool to the touch, but it drew the redhead in. She could see the lightness in Charlie's eyes even through the striking fear. Pleasantly surprising the redhead, Zarya pulled her in by her hand for a warm embrace.

"We've got this one way or another, Red."

* * *

[Present]

"What happened?" Sam exclaimed, running up with machete in hand. "What is this?"

Dean grinned after swigging the beer in his hand. "I know right? Six vamps. Solo. I think that's gotta be a personal best."

"You couldn't have waited? Or asked Clarke to come?"

His grin wavered. "I did ask Zare to come. She's at the bunker with Charlie."

Sam chuckled lightly. "Don't tell me you're jealous of Charlie."

"Okay first of all, I could have reason to be jealous of Charlie if… if Zare and I actually had anything going on, which we don't. And that could be partially because I think she's avoiding me."

"Why would she be avoiding you? Everything's seemed alright to me. She probably just wants to catch up with Charlie. They've always been pretty close."

"You know what? Doesn't matter. I ganked the vamps to take the edge off. I'm sorry. I don't always wait around for you, especially with you looking at me like that all the time."

"Look at you like what?"

"Like that. Like I'm some sort of a-a diseased, killer puppy." He sighed. "Look, I'm sweaty, and I'm covered in vamp juice. Can we just talk about this later? I'd like to get back to the bunker, get my buzz on, and uh, you know - pass out watching 'Speed 2 - Cruise Control'. We cool?"

Sam blinked a couple of times before stiffly nodding. "Cool."

* * *

Zarya gave a slight jump in surprise when she exited her bathroom to find Charlie sitting on her bed with an innocent smile. "It's my job to sneak up on people, Red," she teased and tossed her dirty clothes into the hamper in the corner.

"And you didn't think I'd pick up a thing or two from the master?" Charlie grinned. "You know, last time I saw you, your hair was much longer and more difficult to manage."

She laughed a little and touched the ends of her shoulder length black hair. "Pretty sure I can say the same of you too. Video games scare you into snipping it?" They shared a laugh. Zarya sat at the head of her bed beside Charlie. "I actually cut my hair because I was disguising myself as one of my vampire ancestors I was trying to rescue from a hidden organization with a Virginia college my parents also supposedly went to."

The redhead blinked a couple of times, mouth slightly ajar. "You haven't had a single dull moment, have you? I do like the haircut though. Makes you look even more badass. Less Arya Stark though and more… Raven."

"Raven who? And Arya doesn't have super long hair. She also had short hair in the beginning. I've been catching up in my down time and car rides."

"Uh, like, DC's Raven? Teen Titans Raven? Mark my words, when this entire fiasco is over - because it will be soon - I am taking you to Comic Con and you are dressing up as Raven. While you are correct about Arya her short hair was more boyish looking. Yours is…"

"Raven?" Zarya smiled. "I'll cosplay Raven only if you agree to be my Starfire then."

The redhead beamed with a bright smile. Her hand came up, pinky held out. Zarya's pinky wrapped around hers. "You've got a deal, Raven." Once their hands dropped back down, she changed the subject. "So… can I ask what's kinda clearly going on between you and Dean…?"

She bit her bottom lip. "Is it really that obvious?"

"You two were just about always side by side and suddenly you'll barely make eye contact with the guy. What could have possibly happened? I mean, it's not like you guys would have slept together and now it's horribly awkward for at least you." When Zarya failed to say anything in response, Charlie's eyes widened. "No!" She gasped. "Come on, you have to talk about it to someone. Please."

Zarya sighed and curled her knees to her chest. "I really thought I was finally opening up to someone else, you know? Then… then Metatron killed Dean while he had the Mark of Cain and First Blade so I just bolted. Next thing I know I'm running into _Dean_. I was sure I finally snapped, and honestly I wish I had because the Mark of Cain brought him back as a Knight of Hell." Charlie took her hand and gave it a little squeeze as tears brimmed in her friend's eyes. "It was still him, kind of." She sniffled and one tear slipped out. "But it wasn't at all and I should have known better but I didn't care at all."

"I'm not gonna judge you, Zarya." She told the ravenette softly. "You were grieving the loss of someone you cared about deeply. To even think you had a sliver of him back… I can't blame you for anything. Loss does that to people, and someone with a heart like yours would get hit in all the worst ways. Is this how you got the Mark of Cain mirrored onto you…?"

The raven haired hunter nodded solemnly before taking in a sharp breath. More tears had started to fall down her pink cheeks slowly. "The whole summer was liquor and sex, why not toss in some good old murder?" With her free hand she tried to wipe away a few of the tears but more still fell. "Some, after the initial panic subsided enough, thought it mirrored onto me like it had to Saskia from Cain because we loved each other."

"Your tone of voice makes me believe you think otherwise."

"I do," her voice shook. There was no stopping the flow of warm tears by then. Anxiety had taken hold of her vitals, speeding up her heart rate steadily. "I think it was just the darkness inside of me trying to siphon off of his. Dean got the Mark while I was gone and then I was around it for plenty of time. It only latched onto me after he died. After I abandoned all hope. I think there's something inside of me that's even worse than a Knight or the Mark of Cain…"

Charlie wasn't afraid, she was worried like hell for her best friend. She could see the fear in Zarya's eyes through the tears. "Alright, then let's put the pieces together. The Vasiles have been shrouded in lies for so long, so what do we know that's absolute fact that would have impact on you?" She reached over and wiped away some of Zarya's tears with her sleeve.

Zarya took a deep breath to calm herself. Something about the redhead's light brown eyes still managed to ease her worries. "When Lucifer passed the Mark to Cain, it was the night Saskia was born using a feather from both archangels to ensure hers and Runa's… slash Remiel's survival."

"That's… oddly lined up. Keep going."

"Something separated Remiel and Saskia because they used to be on the same page but then Saskia took off and found Cain. Rumor has it it's because she thought taking the Mark would put her on Remiel's level because Saskia was originally born a nephilim."

A look of deep thought furrowed the redhead's brows. "What if Saskia was trying to be Remiel's vessel and she thought the Mark would make her strong enough for the archangel?"

"But if Remiel was desperate enough, why would she turn down a perfectly willing vessel? Her nephilim daughter at that. Shouldn't she have been a better vessel than Runa?"

"How has she kept Runa around so long though? Think about it - Remiel found a poor, sick, human woman on her deathbed. Neither of them wanted to die so they had to come to some sort of agreement. Remiel then used Runa for, what? A solid thousand years before suddenly acquiring a husband and daughter? I mean, who would take a strange woman with an unknown name as a wife?"

Zarya's eyes widened with a revelation. "A king rising to power."

"But there weren't exactly a whole lot of those thousands of years ago. Most of the men that got crowned king were down in…" Her expression then matched the ravenette's.

"The mediterranean," she smirked. "And judging by Saskia as a person, I think I'll go as far as to say Persia."

In one swift movement Charlie had her phone out with her thumbs tapping quickly across the screen. Zarya had closed the space between them and read over the redhead's shoulder. "King Darius I of Persia," she announced with a proud smile. "He needed to take a wife to secure his position as king when a mysterious woman entered Persia. They married in 523B.C. which gave him the throne. So Saskia Vasile is a Persian princess." Her smile vanished. "That makes so much disturbing sense…"

Zarya grinned and threw her arms around the redhead. "Thank you, Charlie."

"For what? All we did was figure out that Saskia has a really alarming back story. It's not like it helps you figure out what to do about Dean or how you feel about yourself."

"No, but talking to you did ease my mind. It's not something I'm going to figure out in one night. It's been taking me all this time just to unravel the truth about my birth family and I still barely have anything to go on. It's just been really nice to talk to you again."


	35. I Got That Fire in My Soul

35: I Got That Fire in My Soul.

Once the bunker was cleared for the day, Zarya got to work. She typed away and made a few calls until she found what she was looking for. When she got an address she jumped in her Cadillac and took off. Truth be told, Zarya did feel a pang of guilt for not spending more time with the brothers, but she knew damn well all three of them were up to no good. The de Ville pulled up on the outskirts of Kansas at an abandoned mansion. She slung a backpack over one shoulder and walked up the barren pathway with dead grass on each side. When she got up to the porch the front door opened.

"You are either foolish, or painfully bold, little Zarya."

She looked up into Sofia's bright, icy blue eyes with a straight expression. "I've been told I'm both. Without Katia it made it more difficult to find you."

The Russian vampire led her into the foyer. With a snap of her fingers candles lit up across the walls and the door shut. "That's good, because I do not wish to be found. So what is it you want from me, child?"

"Whatever you can possibly teach me. Family history, fighting, magic; whatever you know."

Sofia scoffed as she looked down at the human. "What makes you think you deserve to know any of that, let alone if you have ability to perform magic?"

"The Originals were created with magic. That magic went against the witches' laws of magic which weakened the Originals with sunlight, the need for blood, and vervain. I've seen more than one Vasile do some sort of magic that seems to vary between each but you're all vampires. Vampires born of the Originals' bloodline should be prevented from doing magic because it goes against nature. So my working theory is that we get our power from a different source. A source I should also be able to access with the right knowledge."

The blue eyed vampire clapped slowly. A smirk found its way to her nude shaded lips. "I can give you credit for that, child. Many still do not know or understand. They just know they have the ability."

"So what does it take to tap into it? Is it something I can use while I'm still human?"

"Sure it is. It is in our blood to the very root. But once you touch it, so much as grazing your fingertips _near_ it, you will have touched the greatest darkness to lay claim on any creature. Each time you use it, it will feed on you more. It will be a part of you that you can never get rid of."

Zarya scoffed then. "I think I've already got the hang of a dark magic that I can never get rid of."

"You think the Mark of Cain is bad, Zarya? You think it's so horrendous that it gives you such bloodlust? Guess what, child, that Mark has nothing to do with it. All of those doubts swirling around in your mind, all of the concerns that there is darkness buried deeper than that Mark, yes I can see it all over you and I can tell you that you are correct. There is a darkness inside of you, Zarya. I saw it the moment I laid eyes on you. All that you can do with it is either allow it to consume you, to eat you whole and destroy you, or use it to your advantage."

Her grip on the strap of her bag tightened a little. "What if I didn't want either? What if Sam and Dean succeed in getting rid of the Mark of Cain and I'm not 'consumed' by the darkness anymore?"

"While it is entirely possible for the Winchesters to remove the Mark and deal with the consequences of doing so, there is nothing any of you can do about the darkness in _you_. You were born with it and it already chose what it wanted to latch onto. It is who you are, Zarya. So what are you going to do with it?"

She was quiet for a long minute as she stared up at the vampire. If there was no getting rid of the darkness inside of her, then she certainly wasn't going to let it kill her. "What do I have to do in order to utilize my darkness?"

Sofia's countenance was unchanging. "Acknowledge your darkness. Find where it came from, what it means, what it is to you. Only once you can face the absolute truth can you be level with your power. If you are serious, then you have a ritual to complete."

Zarya took in a deep breath before nodding. "I want to do it."

* * *

"Come on, Dean," Benny called. "How long you gonna keep this up? The silent treatment for me? We got so much to catch up on."

Dean Winchester was no fool though. He kept walking, knowing it was some kind of mind trick he had to find his way out of. "Hey, look, it's good to see you, okay? It is. But like I said, you ain't Benny."

"I'm not? Well, shoot."

"Hey, I'm bummed out too, but you're just a figment, okay? You're- you're subconscious junk my brain's throwing up to distract me from getting back to reality."

"Figment? Junk?" Benny put a hand over his chest in mock hurt. "Well, I'll try not to be offended. Why not trust me? I've gotten you out of here before."

"Only thanks to Zare who, as you can see, is not here with us. Therefore, this ain't real."

Benny gave a half smile at the girl's name. "Ah, I thought it was too quiet without that little spitfire nagging. She must be what's got your brain all screwy, pal. See? A perfect circle. Don't look at me, chief - you chose the way. Just circles and circles for that girl even still. I wonder when you'll realize."

"Realize what?" Dean's tone was getting low and dangerous.

"That one day you're gonna wake up and she's gonna be at that archangel's side instead of yours."

* * *

"Why is it always _you_?" Zarya frowned deeply.

Sofia had prepped one of the larger rooms, likely what was a living room, in the manor with various sigils and herbs before sending the ravenette into the deepest pit of her mind and existence. She sent the human with only one goal: acknowledge her deepest, darkest truth. When Zarya reached the part of herself Sofia sent her off to, she found that she was no longer on the floor of the dusty manor but the floor of the apartment in Detroit.

Lucifer smirked as he stood from the armchair he had been sitting in, offering the ravenette a hand up. "I'm beginning to think you just can't stay away from me, Rya."

Was it the real Lucifer? Or was it just the part of her mind that was being forced to deal with him? Zarya sighed and took his hand, deciding one way or another she had to find out. "In your dreams." She rolled her eyes then dusted her pants and jacket off.

"Well, it's usually yours so what does that say?" She let a small groan loose before going to the door. It opened a few inches, just for the archangel's hand to slam it shut. She glared up at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you expecting this to be cut and dry? No, no, Rya. You're _here_ for a reason. So am I."

"Care to tell me what it is then? Because I've got more important things to deal with than your endless riddles."

"Isn't that just it though, Rya? That's exactly what this is - one, endless riddle. If you ever figure out the answer you'll get to see what your prize is. Until then, you get me as a partner."

"I am not doing this with you. Get out of my head, Lucifer."

"Sorry, Rya, you haven't got much of a choice this time. Besides, we've always worked so well together! Without me you would still be twitching and agonizing over the mere thought of dhampirs existing."

"You're right; now I have to instead cope with the morbid fact that when I die that's what I become."

"First of all, I know you have faith - no, _trust_ in me to keep you from turning for as long as I possibly can. And second, quit saying it like it's such an awful thing."

"Because it is!" She shouted back with her growing frustration. "I'm supposed to continue growing up - growing _old_. I'm human. I'm not supposed to special. I'm supposed to bleed when I'm hurt and inhale fast food, not fight against bloodlust. I don't want to be a dhampir, Lucifer. I will never want to be one."

"Oh but you do, Rya." He got so close that there was barely a few inches between them with her back pressed against the door. "You're tired of always getting kicked around, not being fast enough or strong enough to save those you care about. You don't want to be on the wrong side of the fence anymore because you know you are special and that you deserve to be. You want a taste of that power and that's why you're here."

The door opened in reverse suddenly. Zarya stumbled back, catching herself on a hallway wall before she could fall. It only took her a second to compose herself and then she was sprinting down the hallway. The hallway seemed endless until it morphed into the Salvatore Boarding House hallway. She threw herself behind one of the doors to catch her breath. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Nova sitting on the bed before her.

"You're falling apart, kid." The Romanian rose slowly. Her hair was as long as it once was, falling in gallant waves down her back. "If you're so afraid of becoming a dhampir, why would you reach out to the dark power that binds our blood?"

"Because I'm running out of options," she admitted.

"Or maybe it's not turning that scares you." Nova shrugged. "Maybe it's just death, since you've already done that once and look how well it went. If you're going to keep company like the Winchesters you really have no room to be afraid of death, kid."

"I'm not afraid of dying."

"Wow, you're full of lies, aren't you?" She snickered. "You know there will come a time, for whatever reason, that your dashing archangel just can't save you. You started off as someone for Sam and Dean to save, but how well has that gone for you three? You've been put in more danger than ever and it's becoming increasingly more difficult to save those _you_ care about. How many more people are you going to have watch die before you admit that that's what has you shaking in your boots?"

Zarya grit her teeth before pulling the door open and taking off down the morphing, never ending hall again.

* * *

"Well, now that is just creepy." Benny smirked and crossed his arms over his chest when they arrived at the same tree for about the tenth time.

"Benny - whoever you are - I need to get out of here."

He shrugged. "Need and want are just two different things, ain't they? It's all a figment, right? You, me, left, right. But no matter which way you turn, you keep ending up here. You gotta wonder - why this figment? Why this place? And why is there no spitfire?"

Dean cut his eyes at the southern vamp. "What are you saying?"

"Nothing you don't already know. This is where you wanna be - your happy place with or without, what is it you call her again? Ah yeah, with or without your sweet little _Zare_. Are you hoping to find her or somethin'?"

"No, Benny, because this isn't real. Purgatory is the last place she should be anyways."

"Why? Because you know she craves the same purity you do - killing with no consequence?"

"Hell no." Dean snapped back. "That ain't Zare, and that ain't me. Not anymore. I'm tired of fighting, and she needs to stop before she doesn't recognize herself anymore."

"The Mark ain't done so can't leave, and don't wanna stay. Bit of a bind, ain't it? If you really wanted that for the little spitfire then you wouldn't have brought her down the same path you're on. Good thing there's always a third way out. You can't say you haven't been thinking about it."

"That ain't gonna happen. Ever."

"Come on, Dean! I know you can see it. The purity, the honor."

"There's no honor in that."

"What? You just wanna wait for the Mark to reclaim you? Go out swinging, die topside, then what? Maybe kill a few humans? Kill Cas? Kill your brother? Shit, Dean, if Zarya ain't a dhampir by then you'll probably do her the honor. A Knight of Hell and a Vasile dhampir shredding through everything. Yeah, that's mighty honorable!"

"Benny, _shut up_!" Dean yelled so loudly it shook the trees.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I forgot… about your _plan_. You're gonna get Sam and Cas to put you down? You really think that they're gonna keep that agreement? Come on. Dean, let's say they do." He shrugged. "Do you think they will ever recover from that? What do you think Zarya will do to them? It will ruin them all. This little backup plan of yours, I know you've been thinking about it for a time, I know it's been gnawin' at you. You can't leave that job to them. And you can't keep Zarya caged by your side forever. It's time to let go, Dean."

The elder Winchester had stopped walking. He stared straight ahead through the trees. There was a dejected lostness in his olive green eyes. "You're right…"

* * *

Zarya ran until a blaring red light was flashing around her. She skid to a stop, finding herself in the bunker on lockdown. The sound of something smashing not too far from her sent her sprinting back the other way. Without a single clue of what was happening or where to go, she ran to the basement. A gasp escaped her lips when she found the back door to the room with the devil's trap on the floor smashed and broken. Peering inside she saw a chair in the center of the devil's trap with broken restraints. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She backed away from the door slowly when she hit someone's chest.

Dean smiled at her with his hands up in defense after she spun hastily to face him. "It's just me, Zare. You're alright."

She wanted to sigh in relief, but something wouldn't allow her such comfort. Something in his eyes, even through the red light, just was not right. "I'm not so sure it is…" Her voice was small as she slowly began backing away from him.

"It's me, Zare." He assured her. "I promise. I'm right here."

Her heart skipped a beat. His words echoed and reverberated in her skull. She took a larger step back. "No… you've said that to me before."

"You're scared." That got her eye to twitch a little. "It's still me, Zare. I came back for you."

Her mind _screamed_. Fight or flight kicked in, lanky legs ready to take off down the way. It wasn't the Dean she knew. It was the Knight of Hell Dean. He grinned down at her when he noticed that she had put the pieces together. "I'm not doing this again. I am _never_ doing this again!"

He reached out for her but she pulled away just in time. "You don't have much of a choice eventually, Zare. We've both got this Mark on our arms. When I died, I became this," he smirked and gestured to himself as his eyes flashed black. "When you die, you'll turn into a badass dhampir. We can do anything we want forever."

"You don't want that and neither do I, Dean. You're barely even Dean."

He chuckled darkly and stepped closer to her again. "You hurt my feelings, Zare. That's not what you were saying all summer."

"I was grieving because I watched you _die_."

"And you took the mirrored Mark because you love me most when we're both bathing in blood and darkness. It's still me, Zare. I'm still Dean. Just… better. Even more fun. We don't have anything to worry about. Just stay with me and have fun. Please, Zare?"

Her fists clenched at her sides. "The Mark mirrored itself onto me because I already had a darkness worse than even the very first curse in my blood. It latched onto what was already there trying to siphon and expand. Not because I thought I loved you. So no, I will not stay. Not this time." A tear slipped from her eye before she turned on her heel and ran again.

* * *

In real life in Suzie's house Dean had broken from his restraints meant to keep him safe. He stood with a piece of broken glass in his hand, eyes clearly lost in a trance. In his mind in Purgatory, he turned and faced Benny with a hard expression. "I'd do it," he admitted. "If I really had to, I would. But the real Benny… he would never let me."

"We already covered that, chief. It's not me."

"You know what else won't let me? This thing on my arm. For better or worse, the Mark… it wants me alive. And until it gets out of hand," he rammed his makeshift weapon he originally made in Purgatory through Benny's abdomen, "I will stay alive however it may be just to make sure Zare _never_ ends up beside Lucifer. Thanks pal, but no thanks."

Benny disappeared with a soft smile and Dean found himself out of the trance, back in Suzie's house. He looked around quickly with surprise, then realized the broken bottle in his hand. Zarya's face flashed through his mind briefly. Everything came back and he went running to the basement for Sam.

* * *

"Go away!" Zarya cried with anger. Everything was spiraling when she realized she ran to her home from Pike Creek. She was ready to lose it when she saw Lucifer sitting on her bed.

The archangel smirked as he lay across her nicely made bed with her teddy bear in his hands. "That's literally never going to happen, Rya."

"Why?" She stormed into the room, standing above him. "Because you imprinted on my human soul? Laid claim and now I'm expected to deal with your eternal harassment? I am a person, Lucifer! Not something to be owned and tossed around!"

He didn't even budge. Just stared up at her with a bored expression and her stuffed bear on his chest. "You're so hung up on that. It's starting to get pretty annoying, Rya. Really. Come on, it's time to face the truth. You've got to be as bored as I am with these games already."

She let out a frustrated cry with her hands tangled in her hair as she walked away from the bed. "What the hell was the point in any of this? There is no truth to my life! I was compelled a fake one full of lies and even my blood family is buried under lies."

He had sat up and set the bear down before slowly standing. "Then what's one thing you know that's truth no matter what? What is one thing that will never change and never waver under any circumstances?"

She shook her head slowly at first but it picked up a frantic pace while her heart pounded against her chest. She felt his ice cold hands gently wrap around her upper arms. Tears stung in her green-blue eyes, begging to fall. He held her close and hushed her panic. Outside, thunder boomed and lightning lit up the night sky.

" _You're not hallucinating, Rya."_

" _There is a part of you that I'm forever attached and bound to just the way you are to me."_

" _I'm never going to lie to you, Zarya. Dean Winchester shot a gun called the Colt in an attempt to kill me. All it did was kill the human soul inside."_

" _I will never leave you, Rya."_

" _You're alright, sweet child. You're safe. There was an accident."_

" _You let me in, Rya. It hasn't been the first time, and it certainly will not be the last."_

" _None of this is real, Rya. None of it. You see how it's all gone now? Just you and me left? You get out of here and you'll make it home to… your Dean."_

" _I've waited long enough for you, Rya. I'll burn humanity in your name."_

" _Because in the end, I chose you!"_

"What is it, Rya?" Lucifer asked her quietly. He held her close with his arms wrapped around her small frame. "What's the one thing you keep running from because you know it's the utmost truth that scares you?"

A tear slid down her pink tinted cheek that wasn't pressed against his chest. Her eyes were open and beaming with a tirade of emotions.

" _The imprint forever on your soul, is because I love you, Rya."_

"You love me," Zarya finally admitted aloud. "And it scares the hell out of me because…" She took in a sharp breath. "Because I do care about you. More than I should."

Lightning cracked, illuminating the room brightly for the quickest second. The shadow of his wings were wrapped around the ravenette just as his arms were. Silent tears still fell down her rosy, rounded cheeks. Her hands clasped small fistfuls of his shirt. An icy chill was spreading outward from her heart that partially labored her breathing. The emerald in her eyes shined a little brighter than the blue.

She tried to think of Dean, but his eyes kept turning black. She tried to think of Sam, but she could only see fear in his eyes. She tried to think of Nick, and Katia, but could only see their demise. Charlie's face came to her then; the redhead's kind smile and sweet, light brown eyes. The cold in her chest receded barely an inch before Charlie's scream rang through her ears. She heard the girl asking to live, crying for Zarya's help.

"I will never leave you, Rya."

His voice was soft and sweet, prompting her to finally look up at him. She didn't move or flinch as he gently caressed her cheek and wiped a tear away. Still she held onto his shirt, staring up into his deep blue eyes. Another bolt of lightning lit up the room as thunder went by loudly overhead. Her lower lip trembled slightly. "I know."

With that devilish smile she knew so well, he leaned close and kissed her. Just the same as before he ended up back in the Cage, a line of blood dripped from each of their bottom lips. The thunder shook the house and the bright light of the lightning turned indigo. When they finally pulled apart, Lucifer's eyes flashed a bright scarlet. The cold had spread through her entire body and Zarya's wide eyes glowed indigo.


	36. Who Can Save Me Now?

**A/N:** Let me just start off by saying that one character in Supernatural who just DID NOT DESERVE IT is Charlie freakin' Bradbury.  
And I died a little inside trying to write this chapter.

xoxo  
Kuraki-chan

* * *

36: Who Can Save Me Now?

Sofia's eyes widened, her long lashes brimming her eyebrows, when Zarya's magic sigil actually burned into the small, metal plate. The human laid on the floor of the manor surrounded by various candles and herbs. After an hour Sofia had began to doubt that the girl could accomplish the task. She contemplated pulling her out or letting her die when the blank, silver talisman started getting etching into it on her table. The wax of the white candles surrounding it turned indigo as it dripped down.

"Unbelievable," the vampire breathed. When the tiny indigo flame marking the silver talisman finally stopped, a small gasp actually escaped her lips; Zarya's sigil was even more intricate than Sofia's. She recognized some of the linework in ties to both archangels, but there was also a small triskele and etching she couldn't tell where it came from. Her blue eyes stared at Zarya still laying still on the floor. " _That_ is why he chose you, child," she spoke in barely a whisper.

Zarya's eyes shot open and she sat up coughing. She was surprised at how quickly Sofia was at her side with a bottle of water. "How long was I under? Did it work?"

"About an hour and a half." She held out her closed hand which confused the hunter. Sofia's slender fingers unfolded slowly to reveal the silver talisman in the palm of her hand. "I underestimated you, Zarya." She admitted.

With a shaking hand the younger Vasile took the little, silver circle with her own unique sigil engraved in it. Sofia stood and offered her a hand to do the same. "So what does this mean? I can do magic now?"

"In essence, I suppose. Never lose that talisman; it is a show of your rank within our family. It is a reminder and a warning of what lies inside of you. Having and knowing your sigil is what connects you to the infinite power that binds our blood."

"Assuming what I saw was a metaphor for that 'infinite power' and how it relates to my specifically, do you know _what_ the actual source of our power is? Where it comes from? How it disobeys nature?"

Sofia hesitated, but thinking of the girl's sigil reminded her what actually lied within Zarya Vasile. "Oblivion," she answered honestly. "You know there is Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and the Other Side but that barely covers the surface."

"They all really connect, don't they?"

She nodded. "And they work hand in hand. Heaven and Hell, Purgatory and the Other Side, the Empty and Oblivion."

"The… Empty?"

"Try not to think of it, child. The most I know is the name and that it coincides with Oblivion without being equal allies. They are both essentially black holes of the celestial realm. God created Remiel with the power of Oblivion. I will never understand why the maniac decided she would then be the Angel of Hope of all things. If you can dip into Oblivion without allowing it to suck you in and eat you whole then you ought to be able to accomplish anything."

* * *

When she heard Sam and Dean beginning to argue, Zarya's pace quickened down the stairs of the bunker. "What'd I miss?" She offered a smile as she stepped between them, tossing her bag on the table.

"Where the hell have you been?" Dean questioned first. "Have _you_ been out snuffing vamps' nests?"

She blinked a couple of times. "A few ghouls, actually. Garth caught wind of some in his area and was looking for you two but got me instead. Killed 'em dead and his wife made dinner. You think I was gonna pass up a home cooked meal?" She laughed a little, then noticed the open folder on the table. "Ooh, Dean is actually reading?"

The elder Winchester snatched the folder before she could grab it. They both knew she couldn't be entirely lying because Garth had left them a couple of voicemails. "Yeah, I do that sometimes." She chuckled and grinned up at him. "Those goons that were after the book - the, uh, the Stynes - well, the one that we killed said that he had a big family. So if there's more out there, I figure we should probably get to know as much as we can about them since that's about where we're at for the Vasiles."

Sam chuckled dryly. "Two mysterious families coming out of the dark. Right. And?"

"Well, they screwed with financial markets, helped Hitler get started along with God knows what else… probably disco." The ravenette snickered. "But you go back to the 1800s and the trail goes dead. There's nothing in the research, there's nothing online. It's like the family just popped up one day."

"Not even the Vasiles managed that," Zarya commented. "We just got buried under lie after lie 'cause everyone wanted to save their own asses."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Families don't usually do that."

Dean shrugged. "No, they do not. Hasn't been a total waste of time, though. I think I caught us a case. Y'know, if you two don't have your own secret hunts to go on."

Zarya and Sam exchanged guilty but accusing glances before they each slapped on their own fake smiles. "As long as I can shower first and it's not ghouls because I am so sick of being covered in ghoul goo."

"Nah, it's a murder in Omaha. Victim's eyes were cut out. Janitor runs in just as the killer jumps out the window."

"That's it?" Sam questioned skeptically.

"Well, the window was on the third story."

"Sold!" The ravenette shouted with a wide grin.

* * *

After her shower and packing her bag, Zarya found that Sam had already left on some 'errand' and would meet in Omaha. She bit the inside of her cheek realizing that she would be left in a car ride alone with Dean all the way to Omaha. She looked down at the silver talisman in her hand. In a last second decision Zarya cut a small pocket on the inside of her right boot and slipped the charm into the pocket. She would have to get a new chain or bracelet for it after. With her bag slung over one shoulder, she met Dean outside at the Impala.

He had to do a double take when he saw her while he was loading up the trunk. Her boots looked brand new except the recent mud and 'ghoul goo' in a few splatters, she wore nicely fitting black skinny jeans, a dark grey camisole, and indigo leather jacket with ¾ sleeves. She had straightened her hair so it brushed across her shoulders. "Now I know you have to be a ghoul that's trying to be Zare."

She laughed a little. "You gonna bash my brains in and find out? It's me, I promise. I got Nashville leather boots and the jacket was a present from Bess. She said she never wore it but it would look great on me. I guess it's not so bad. Ready to go?"

"When Sammy ditched and said he'd meet I figured you'd follow suit."

She tossed her bag to him which he caught with ease. "Nah. I'll take shotgun and not having to drive."

Dean laughed as he put her bag in the trunk and closed it. "You're not touching my radio."

"I'm glad you think so!"

It was mostly silent until they were out of Lebanon. Zarya noticed the way Dean kept glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. Would he say something first? Should she? What even was there to say?

"I'm sorry you're in this mess because of me, Zare."

Her head turned, bright and wide eyes staring up at him. _I guess he decided to speak first,_ she thought. "What are you talking about?"

He let out a heavy sigh but kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead. "You shouldn't have that Mark on your arm and it's my fault. To be honest, I never should have let you become a hunter. This wasn't supposed to be the life for you."

"Okay, now you're just being ridiculous. One way or another, I was gonna end up a hunter. My birth mom was a hunter, remember? And apparently your mom knew her and her mom. It was an endless cycle of hunters. Do you remember when you and Sam took me back to Pike Creek to get some of my stuff before they foreclosed my house and I took my machete from between the mattresses because it took a life?"

* * *

[Flashback]

 _Sam was just short enough to fit in her closet and grab her tiny frame with ease. He helped her slide out of the cove with a dark mahogany box in her arms until her feet were safely on the floor. She smiled up at him before taking the box over to her bed and kneeling onto the floor. "Okay, and that is?" Dean questioned, pointing at the box._

 _Zarya waved him off momentarily, digging between her thick mattress and boxspring. She slid out a long machete with a sharp edge and serrated other side. It honestly looked like there was blood still caked on parts of the serration and dried onto the blade. She let it drop onto the bed beside her box before grabbing a dark backpack from under the bed and going to her dresser. "The machete was originally meant to be a collectable displayed on my wall," she told them as she tossed clothes into her bag._

" _What happened to put it between your mattresses?" Sam asked._

" _Took a life," she answered quietly, moving down her drawers._

" _What?" They both were in disbelief._

 _She shrugged and stood when she was done with her drawers. "When Nick and I were barely 18/19 and on our own for the first time, someone broke in. Nick tried his best, but I grabbed the machete and swung. He died and we ditched the body. End of story."_

* * *

[Present]

"Yeah. Why?"

She took a deep breath. "I've actually never admitted this to anyone. Nick and I were the only ones to know what happened that night. We had this little loft space - totally illegal and everything, but it was cheap." She shrugged. "This guy who harassed me in high school had stalked me after graduation. When he found out where I lived he broke in. He'd been obsessed with me since freshman year and I refused to feed into his delusion. It made him so angry when Nick heard the break in and met him with a bat. I heard them fighting and grabbed my machete off the wall. It had originally been a birthday present from Nick, ergo my initials in it." She smiled sadly. "Nick had lost the upper hand. I ran in and just… _swung_. Took his head right off and it rolled across the floor. We got rid of the body, cleaned what we could, and took off."

Dean was quiet for a while as he took in the story and all of its details. "What's the speaking of a 'to-the-grave' secret got to do with anything?"

"Because you seem to think that you brought all of these bad things into my life, but my life already had it, Dean. I was buried in it. I've never been okay with any of it, but I'm not gonna cry about it either. I'm alive… more or less. And as for the Mark…" Her hand subconsciously found itself over the leather sleeve covered arm. "It turns out it's apparently cherry pie compared to the darkness actually already in me. It wasn't your fault the Mark of Cain mirrored onto me; it was my darkness trying to grow stronger."

He scoffed, which caused one of her brows to raise. "What darkness could possibly worse than the Mark of Cain and in _you_ , Zare? The dhampir gene in your blood? Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly an easy idea to cope with - half vamp, half human and we don't know jack about them, but there's no way they're worse than the friggen Mark of Cain."

She shrugged. "Whatever it is, you've seen the way I make even Crowley's skin crawl. There's something real bad somewhere in me, Dean. I don't know what exactly it is, but I know it's something both Remiel and Lucifer obviously want."

"Then they ain't getting it." He responded sharply. "If there really is something that dark in you just waiting to blow then we'll figure it out, Zare."

She turned her head and smiled softly at him. With his eyes focused on the road he couldn't see the sadness behind it. There was nothing he could do to save her. He couldn't just destroy whatever was lying in wait, there was no knowing what it actually was or when it would show. Perhaps it always showed, lying in wait for her to turn her back. All she could do was wait until it got what it wanted and tossed her where it needed her. She could only wonder where she would end up when she finally stood toe to toe with whatever darkness she had.

* * *

Charlie could only muster a confused half smile when Sam pulled up in an unusual car. "Hey, it's you… in a beat-up, prehistoric subcompact. But why are we meeting here? I could have come to the Death Star."

"No, no," Sam shook his head. "This is, uh… this is better, actually. We're not gonna be working in the bunker, so…"

"Uh-huh… What is this about again? You were kind of vague."

He sighed and rubbed his face. "Okay, so here's the thing… Dean is not getting any better. Zarya puts up a good front, but it's…"

"Easily read?"

He nodded. "I actually… I kind of think she might be worse off than Dean, honestly. If we don't fix this now, that is. She's hanging on while he's starting to slip and it's just a matter of time before we lose them both. If we don't get the Mark off of both of them it's gonna swallow them whole."

She blinked a couple of times with emotion filled eyes. "I get that, but what are we gonna do about it?"

"I got ahold of a codex which is sort of a collection of supernatural code-breaking tools, and it should help crack the Book of the Damned."

"That would be awesome… if the book, you know, actually existed anymore."

The guilt on Sam's face was almost heartbreaking. "It… it does. I uhm, I swapped it out right before it looked like I burned it."

Charlie's face fell in her hands when she realized. "And of course Dean and Raven don't know. Geez, you guys!"

Sam's brow quirked. "Raven?"

The redhead couldn't resist the smile. "Zarya's new haircut reminds me of DC's Raven. She'll always be my Arya Stark, but she's a badass Raven."

 _Doesn't she have a darkness that keeps trying to take over too…?_ He thought gravely.

* * *

Having not gotten very far with the scene of the crime, Dean called his brother saying they were just coming back to the bunker. Zarya complained that the waste of time in a pencil skirt had made her hungry to which Sam laughed and suggested pizza. The idea made the ravenette light up. So Dean then laughed and said they'd pick it up when they got to Lebanon. Zarya let out an annoyed, hangry groan.

She was surprised at the way her and Dean just fell back into routine after one barely awkward conversation. Nothing actually got said or done, but she figured then that nothing would progress. So the entire way back to Lebanon Zarya repeatedly screwed with the radio. As punishment Dean made her call in the order and kept trying to mess with her while she talked. When they finally retrieved the pizza Zarya was elated. She could smell the sweet bacon and cheese. As they walked down the alley to get back to the car, two cars pulled up and closed them in. A hangry rage erupted in the raven haired hunter.

"You fuckers are not getting in the way of my goddamn dinner!" She yelled when one of the Stynes emerged from the car. A second Styne (Eldon) got out from the second car.

"Alright, hold it right there," Dean told them sternly. The Stynes ignored him and advanced on the pair.

Zarya snatched her revolver from the back of her jeans and fired a warning shot into the air. "The man said 'hold it' assholes!"

The darker haired Styne advanced on her even with her revolver pointed at him. She and Dean stood back to back. Dean tossed the pizza box onto a stack of discarded boxes against a wall before dodging a hit from Eldon Styne and taking out his knife. Zarya fired two shots directly into the other Styne's heart which staggered him but he continued on. She got two more shots before he grabbed her wrist and tossed her onto the hood of his car. Her revolver landed on the ground with a thud. While Dean struggled with Eldon, a cool metal slid against Zarya's arm and came out of her ¾ sleeve.

 _At least it seems to work,_ she thought. The dark haired Styne lunged to grab her neck but she thrust Lucifer's angel blade up into his chest. A look of horror and panic filled his face. Zarya flung him off of the blade and to the ground just as Dean got the upper hand against Eldon with his knife to the Styne's throat.

* * *

While Zarya inhaled some pizza upstairs, Sam and Dean interrogated Eldon Styne in the basement. If the earliest record of them was in the 1800s, Zarya thought that maybe Nova might know something. Curious enough, the ravenette called her Romanian ancestor. "Do you have five minutes and know anything about the Styne family?"

The line was quiet for a brief moment before Nova spoke. "Yes I do, and _who_?"

"The Styne family," she spelled it out for the Romanian. "The earliest record of them goes to about the 1800s when they just magically popped up. Then they went on to be some serious slime helping Hitler and shit."

"Fucking gods," Nova muttered. "How do you always manage to find these kinds of people, Zarya? The Stynes are the worst of the worst in Europe. Where do you think my parents got most of their techniques?"

"Seriously? So they do, like… torturous experiment crap like Whitmore?"

"It's their family specialty - bioengineering and surgical enhancement. That's exactly what my parents did to me. They wanted me to be superhuman but the Stynes… they take it even further. My parents experimented with supernatural adjustments while still keeping me human. The Stynes just add on for protection. Extra leg muscle, two hearts, you name it. They were one of Europe's oldest families."

Zarya gasped with the realization. The piece of pizza she was bringing to her mouth fell down onto her paper plate. "The House of Frankenstein… it's real?"

"And much worse than some man put together and zapped alive by lightning. Chaos breeds fear, fear breeds panic, and panic breeds desperation. They profit from desperation. Everytime some mess happens they swoop in and take care of it with their dark magic. They feed on the fear of the Earth. They're monsters even worse than us because they are still technically human."

She hung up hastily and scrambled from her chair. She could hear Sam and Dean talking nearby, but she also heard a door slamming. She knew the sound would be heard by the brothers and all three ended up in the basement. A trail of blood led out of the room with Eldon's arm dangling from the chain he had been confined to. Zarya could almost feel the three pieces of pizza she already ate starting to come back up.

"Oh, my God," Dean spoke with bewilderment in his voice. "He… he ripped it off."

Zarya's hand was over her mouth, eyes unable to look away from the severed arm. "Nova had heard of the family… they're the real deal - the Frankensteins. Juiced up with extra skin and organs and things. Like, arms, apparently…"

She was the first to turn and walk out of the room. The brothers took an extra second but followed nonetheless. She could hear them talking behind her but her brain was too fried to make out the words. Dean was trying to coax the truth from his brother after Eldon told him that the Book of the Damned can't be destroyed.

"-he hit me with this little fun fact," his words finally made it through as Zarya sat down with her head in her hands. "He says that the book can't be destroyed. Says that it can't be sliced, diced, shredded, burned, drowned; cannot be destroyed. Ain't that crazy? Because… I know I saw _something_ burn." Sam's phone began vibrating on the table. "Sam, you answer that and so help me…"

Hesitantly, Sam did answer the call. Castiel's voice greeted him. "Sam, she's gone."

"Who's gone?"

"I've looked everywhere. Charlie is gone."

Zarya's head rose from her hands, eyes wide with a wrathful panic. Before Dean could lash out at his brother, the ravenette's phone then rang. She scrambled for the device to find Charlie's ID on her screen. "Red, where the hell are you?!" She exclaimed with a frantic worry. "Why did Cas just call Sam to say he lost you?"

"Uhm… I'm at a-a motel," her voice shook with fear. "T-t-the Blackbird. G-guys… someone is here. T-they think I have the book…"

Zarya's eyes were wide as she stared up at Sam. His mouth twitched before he spoke. "If you have the book, give it to them."

"Charlie has the damn Book of the Damned?!" Dean exclaimed with anger.

"No!" The redhead spoke quickly. "I don't have it. I just… I-I just have my notes."

"Then give them your notes, Charlie!" Sam urged. "Give them the code… whatever they want!"

"Charlie, please," Zarya pleased. The three of them were already headed towards the door. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but you need to listen to me. Give whoever that is whatever they want. Do you understand me, Red?"

She sniffled and something pinged on her end of the call. "I can't do that, Raven."

"Dammit, Charlie! Don't get yourself killed for whatever this is, please!"

The line went dead before they got in the Impala. Zarya tried at least ten times to call the redhead again but it wouldn't go through. While Sam and Dean argued the whole way, Zarya couldn't stop trying so hard to call Charlie. A notification for an email came up but by then the Impala sped into the Blackbird's parking lot. Zarya tossed her phone on the seat and went running before either brother could open their door. Each of them shouted their respective nicknames for her but she couldn't hear. Her boots pounded heavily against the pavement until she found the broken door to Charlie's room.

Zarya pushed past the broken wood to find the girl's laptop in smithereens on the table. There was clear evidence of a fight all over the place. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the bathroom door partially open. Sam and Dean ran in as she slowly opened the bathroom door. A deep, aching sob erupted from her mouth when she saw the redhead crumpled up in the bathtub, covered in blood. Tears _poured_ down her face. She dropped to the floor, cradling Charlie's lifeless body against her own while she cried.

"No, no, no," the brothers watched her sob from the doorway. "You are not dead… you are not dead… not you too… please, Charlie…"


End file.
